Bad and Rebellious
by OretaTsubasaDe
Summary: Mariam is considered ‘rebellious’ but Mariam, herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What’ll happen when someone finally takes her side? [HIATUS or soon to be DISCONTINUED]
1. Pointing Out Facts

This story came into my mind when I couldn't sleep once.

Here, I'm using the dub names, only because I have an intention for it later (evil smile).

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: I'll only say it once; I own nothing…

* * *

Mariam bit on her lip, closing her eyes and preparing for the worst. 

"Mariam, how many times do we have to tell you to work with Ozuma and the other Saint Shields?" an elder asked, annoyed.

Mariam looked at the elder, and then turned her head to the side. "You can tell me as many times as you want, but I prefer not to stoop so low as to work with…_that._" She took a side glance at Dunga who snarled.

"Fine, Mariam, do what you want, but I believe in teamwork. Until you learn to work with the others, you are temporarily removed from the team."

Mariam's eyes widened slightly, but she hid that by closing her eyes and hanging her head. "Fine," she uttered to herself as she lifted her head and opened her eyes, "it's not like I liked working with them anyways."

"Dismissed." The elder finished, sending the girl off.

Mariam turned and walked out of the temple, where Dunga, Joseph and Ozuma were waiting.

Dunga grinned. "Being rebellious gets ya nowhere, Mari."

Mariam growled. "Don't call me that!"

"But, sis," Joseph began, "you _are_ rebellious."

The lavender-haired girl turned to her brother. "I knew that, Joseph!" she shouted, "I meant about calling me 'Mari'!"

"Oh…" Joseph said, "Never mind."

"Ugh!" Mariam rolled her eyes and stormed away from them.

Ozuma stared. "Mariam!"

She turned to see her ex-leader. "What?"

Ozuma walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Just because you're off the team, doesn't mean you have to leave the village."

"I'm not leaving the village, Ozuma," Mariam brushed his hand off her shoulder, "I'm going for a walk."

The dual-haired leader looked uneasy, and then took a step away. "Oh…carry on then."

Mariam scoffed at him, and then walked away again. "Jeez…"

* * *

Kai glanced at Kenny. "And if it's at all possible, explain what you're trying to do." 

Kenny returned the glare. "Well, it seems to see if you can figure out each others' moves, you can help each other out…"

"Fascinating," Kai sneered, "and what would a four-on-four battle prove?"

"I…um…haven't gotten there yet." Kenny flushed.

Hilary let out an annoyed sigh; sitting on the bench and watching guys argue about nothing wasn't as much fun as she first interpreted.

Kai and Kenny argued some more, the other Bladebreakers got bored.

"Ugh…okay, two pair." Tyson sighed, showing Max and Rei his hand of cards.

"Erm…three-of-a-kind." Max put his hand down.

Rei sighed. "Flush, ace high. I win."

"What!" Max slammed his hand on the table. "I demand a recount!"

"…you're an idiot." Hilary heard Kai utter.

"Alright!" Hilary yelled. "Two-on-two battle, okay?"

All five boys looked at the brunette.

"And you couldn't have said that earlier?" Kai asked dully, pissed off.

Hilary flushed. "Oh…well, I…I'm uh,"

"Wasting time." Kai rolled his eyes, "Rei, you're on my team."

The neko-jin nodded. "Finally! You owe me two bags of Skittles, guys!" he yelled back to Tyson and Max, running over beside Kai.

The pair groaned. "Crap…" they muttered together.

"Stop complaining and get your butts up!" Kai yelled at them.

Tyson and Max jumped to their feet, going over to the dish.

"3…2…1…" Kenny started. "Let it rip!"

The four blasted their blades at each other.

* * *

Mariam sighed again. 

"Let it rip!" she heard from a few feet away.

"Hm?" she went over and peered from behind a tree. Mariam watched Tyson, Max, Rei and Kai attack with their blades.

"Yeah! Get 'em!"

Mariam transferred her gaze over to the cheering brunette. _Cheering for Tyson, perhaps? Or Kai? _Mariam pondered over that for a few seconds before hearing a growl from the Chinese blader.

Mariam glanced over and saw Drigger get knocked out of the dish by Dragoon perhaps.

Kai growled, having the match be changed to two-on-one.

Draciel and Dragoon pushed Dranzer into a corner of the dish and started pounding up against the phoenix.

Mariam argued with herself, whether to just stay and watch, or go down there and help out Kai.

Mariam ended up firing Sharkrash into the dish, knocking Dragoon into the opposite wall. Dranzer gathered itself and pushed back against Draciel.

Mariam remained behind the tree, hoping that they wouldn't recognize her blade.

* * *

Kai stared at the blade that came to his rescue. _Sharkrash?_ Kai wondered. While the Russian was pondering over that, Dranzer took a sharp tackle from Draciel. 

"Go! Flame Saber!" Kai countered.

Max was still in awe that Sharkrash would come and save Dranzer. He was knocked out of his thoughts when Kai's fire attack knocked Draciel into the air.

The blond growled. "Gr…Viper Wall!"

Meanwhile, Sharkrash was having fun striking Dragoon against the dish.

"Victory Tornado!" Tyson yelled out.

Mariam grunted, taking a step back. "Abyss Fire!"

The attacks clashed and when the smoke cleared up, the blades were still spinning.

Mariam couldn't help but run over to a closer tree to get a better view, since it was also _her_ battle too.

Kai saw movement in the corner of his eye and saw the lavender-haired girl trying to move behind another tree.

Mariam saw Kai take a sidelong glance at her. She nodded in response.

"Go Sharkrash!" Mariam yelled out.

"Dranzer!" Kai added.

Kai and Mariam yelled attacks at the same time.

"Abyss Fire!"

"Volcanic Emission!"

"Ah!" Hilary and Kenny shielded their eyes from the explosion.

Hilary coughed a bit and Kenny tried to see in the dish.

"Huh?"

Hilary looked at the boy. "What? Who won?"

Kenny glared at the chestnut eyed girl. "Hilary, who do _you _think won?"

"Knowing Tyson, he probably did?" she guessed, sighing with her hands on her hips.

"And judging by the explosion, what do you think?"

"Oh…_OH_!" Hilary realized, snapping her fingers.

Rei coughed and fanned the air with his hands. Dragoon and Draciel were still spinning, barely hanging on while Sharkrash and Dranzer seemed to be spinning at a medium rate; not quite out and not fully spinning either.

Mariam sneered; the two morons were still spinning. "Kya!" she lunged forward, trying to push against both at the same time.

Kai glanced at her, with that 'What are you, crazy or something?' look in his eye.

Mariam returned that with the 'I know what I'm doing' smirk on her face.

Max and Tyson looked back and forth at the pair. "D'ya know what that means?" Max asked, leaning to whisper in the ear of his partner.

"Not a clue." The navy-haired boy shrugged.

Dranzer followed Sharkrash, pushing against the pair, to get them to stop spinning.

Rei sighed. _This could end soon…it doesn't seem like Kai's style to linger. He's the 'beat 'em fast; let them wonder what hit 'em' kind of man._ He stared at the battle.

Sharkrash then backed off and span around in circles.

Kai looked at the girl, seeing if she still knew what she was doing; she was smirking. _What the hell is she doing? _

Dragoon seemed to follow Sharkrash, and then Sharkrash seemed to disappear.

Tyson looked around. "Where'd 'e go? Where'd 'e go?" he asked frantically.

The blond turned his head and looked at Tyson. Kai smirked, taking that as his chance to slam Draciel out of the dish, a few inches from his owner's feet.

Dranzer flew back into Kai's hand, not even bothering to help Mariam, but by the look on her face, she looked like she didn't need it.

Dragoon stopped trying to follow Sharkrash and spun in place.

"Tyson!" Max, Hilary and Kenny yelled out.

Rei and Kai seemed to just watch silently as Sharkrash appeared in front of Dragoon and slammed him square-on.

"What the…?"

Dragoon toppled over, and a few seconds later, Sharkrash also fell over.

Mariam bent down to pick up her blade. When she straightened her posture, she stared at Sharkrash in her hand with a descent look on her face.

Tyson smiled, picking up Dragoon. The navy-haired boy brought his thumb over to the corner of his lips, and then dragged the thumb across his smirking lips. "That was one cool battle, Mariam."

"Huh?" Mariam said quietly, looking up at the outstretched hand of the grinning boy. _What's he getting at with this?_

"Oh." Mariam let out a small sigh. "Right." She nodded her head and turned to walk away, completely ignoring the friendly gesture.

Kai felt that he had to thank her when she passed by. She came within a few inches of him when he uttered her name quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.

"Yeah…Kai?" the girl looked up at him.

The Russian gulped. "I suppose I should thank you for helping me," he said as nicely as he could, "bu---"

Mariam cut in. "But let me guess – you didn't ask for it and you don't think I _need_ to be thanked, right?" she crossed her arms.

"Right." Kai nodded. Behind Mariam, Kai could see Rei telling him that he just said the wrong thing; the neko-jin slapped his forehead with his head, sighing and bowing his head.

"…and you're only giving me this crappy thanks because your little friends are telling you that it's the right thing to do." The emerald-eyed girl glared.

"You…" Kai started, but paused, trying to think of what he wanted to say, "have issues."

"Why? Because I'm 'rebellious', right? Not everyone is some stupid moron who's made to follow the orders of others! I can think for myself, and I don't need some _guy_ telling me what to do!" Mariam spat at him.

"You think I _like_ having to listen to my grandfather all the time? I have to do whatever he, or Boris, tells me to! I don't want to do what they want!"

Mariam just smirked. "Then why do you?"

Kai paused for a moment. "Hn," was all he could think of.

"Hm." Mariam lowered her smirk, "You say you're different, but you're just like everyone else, aren't you?" she taunted, "The sad little boy that thinks he's so bad and rebellious, but he's no better then this one." She jerked a head to Tyson.

"Hey!" Tyson objected, marching up to them.

Kai held an arm out, to stop the bluenette from coming any closer. When Tyson stopped, the Russian lowered his arm. "_Don't_ you _ever_ compare me to him." He warned Mariam icily.

"I'm not comparing," she shot smugly, "I'm pointing out facts." She said no more and walked away.

Kai clenched a fist. Damn girl. Who did she think she was, talking to him like that? He was Voltaire's grandson, dammit. So, she thinks she's so bad, eh? He'd show her bad and rebellious…

* * *

Well, there we go. I have no idea where this came from, but when I can't sleep, I tend to think of stories… Yeah, and I have no knowledge for any of the elders, so…I didn't know what I was doing there. And I think that the summary may be confusing now since…ah whatever, I'll get it to work…somehow. 

You can review, (although I'm just writing for the sake of writing) and well…yeah.


	2. Back and Forth

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: I only said it once; see previous.

_

* * *

Kai held an arm out, to stop the bluenette from coming any closer. When Tyson stopped, the Russian lowered his arm. "_Don't_ you _ever_ compare me to him." He warned Mariam icily. _

"_I'm not comparing," she shot smugly; "I'm pointing out facts." She said no more and walked away. _

_Kai clenched a fist. Damn girl. Who did she think she was, talking to him like that? He was Voltaire's grandson, dammit. So, she thinks she's so bad, eh? He'd show her bad and rebellious…_

* * *

Kai, growling inwardly, watched Mariam walk away. 

"Why would you say that, Kai?" Max spoke up.

The slate-haired Russian turned to the voice of the sound. "Why wouldn't I?"

Max rubbed the back of his neck worriedly. "Well, she _was_ just being truthful, Kai, and sometimes the truth hurts, y'know."

"Watch it, Max." Tyson warned in a harsh whisper.

Kai walked up to the blond. "So, since you're saying that, I guess you understand what she was talking about?"

"Well, no, but…" Max struggled. Kai merely raised an amused brow.

"Exactly. I wouldn't expect you to anyways; you're one of the people who always follow orders, not questioning why you're doing it." Kai concluded, trying to be as least offensive as possible.

"What are you talking about, Kai?" Hilary cut in.

He took a glance at the brunette. "And this one's always _giving_ the orders." He jerked a head at Hilary, "And I suppose I understand what Mariam meant, but I don't see how it affects me."

Everyone just stared at him. "Right…"

* * *

"Stupid rich, conceded little asshole!" Mariam yelled, picking up and rock and skipping it along the pond. 

"I take it that you _don't_ like being kicked off the team?" Ozuma asked, walking up from behind her.

"Ozuma!" Mariam exclaimed in a shocked tone, turning her head to see him. She quickly turned her head back around, away from him. "What do _you_ want?"

"I just," he began, peering over to see her face, "wanted to see if you were alright."

"What does it matter to you?" her voice sounded exasperated.

"I'm your friend." Ozuma hated saying those words.

Mariam scoffed silently. "And as my friend, you've got to let me do this…on my own."

"But---!"

"Don't even, Ozuma." Mariam warned.

"Mariam, if you'll just---"

She whipped around to face him. "Ozuma, that was years ago…it was a mistake and I'm sorry for it. I tried to tell you but…I didn't wanna hurt you then, okay?"

"It was only two months ago." Her former leader said flatly.

"Same thing!" Mariam grunted, annoyed. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"For you, maybe. But it's still there for me." Ozuma sighed, turning away.

Mariam stared at her reflection for a while before breaking the silence again. "Ozuma, I…" she turned around, finding the red and black hair-colored boy was gone. "Never mind."

* * *

"Tyson!" 

The boy turned around to see the olive-haired kid running up to him.

"Yeah," Tyson asked, when the boy stopped in front of him, "er…Jake?"

"It's Joseph, Tyson, and thanks for remembering." He said flatly.

"Oh," Tyson flushed slightly, "sorry."

Joseph rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Look, have you guys seen my sister around?"

Max came over. "Mariam?"

"Yeah, her," the sea green-haired boy crossed his arms and sighed, "it's not like I have any other sisters…"

"Right…" Max bit his lip.

"So, have you seen her or not?" Joseph started yelling.

"Yeah, we have." Rei walked to them, crossing his arms. "She came over here and battled alongside Kai."

"Against these two?" Joseph asked, waving a finger at Tyson and Max.

"Yeah." Rei nodded.

Joseph started to look happier. "Okay, so where'd she go?"

Rei opened his mouth to speak, but he shut it. "Actually, I don't know. Kai was the one who saw her last." The neko-jin jerked a finger behind him to where the Russian was leisurely lying in the grass with a grass blade on a stem in his mouth.

"Kai!" Joseph exclaimed, running over to him.

"Hn?" Kai cracked an eye open, seeing the brother of the girl who just humiliated him. "What?"

"You've seen my sister around, didn't you? Please say you did." Joseph pleaded.

Kai sat up, spitting his grass blade out. "Look, kid, I don't know _what_ you want me to say, but I refuse to do anything that'll help your sister."

"I just asked if you knew where she was." The boy said utterly.

"Ugh…" Kai groaned, lying back down. "No, I don't know." The slate-haired boy closed his eyes, hoping that Joseph wouldn't see what he was hiding.

"You sure?" Joseph's voice seemed to be lowering sadly.

Kai grunted. "Meh." He pretended the olive-haired boy wasn't there. _She's at the pond, nitwit. _

"Okay." Joseph nodded. "Well, if you see her, can you tell her that the elders have reconsidered her removal from the team?"

The last five words got Kai back up. "Wait, wait, wait…she was _removed_ from the Saint Shields?"

Joseph nodded. "Yeah…for being too rebellious."

"Why? What'd she do that was so rebellious?" Kai seemed amused and concerned at the same time.

His nervous lime eyes darted around in fear. "She didn't work with us and she didn't listen to what we were saying to her. She kept walking off on her own, and she didn't care about what happened to us…" Joseph's eyes looked like they were ready to cry sometime soon. "Not even me…"

Kai stared at him. "She didn't even care about what happened to you?"

"And I'm her brother!" Joseph cried out. The boy couldn't take any more; he turned away, wiping his eyes.

Kai presumed that the boy had indeed started crying. "Joseph, what happened?"

Joseph had stopped mumbling about his mother and looked at the slate-haired boy. "Huh?"

"What…happened?" Kai asked again, firmly.

Joseph wiped his eyes again. "Ever since she and Ozuma… and she's been meaner, even to me… and she hit me."

* * *

Ozuma was watching Joseph spill everything out to Kai. Ozuma knew Mariam had hit Joseph, and the way Ozuma saw it, it was basically Joseph's fault. 

_Flashback_

"Joseph, what the hell was that? If another one of your teachers yells at me because of you, Joseph, I don't know what I'm gonna do, but you're not gonna like it." Mariam scolded her brother.

Joseph just glared at her. "Why are you being so mean now?"

Mariam gave him a sidelong glance. "I can be what I want."

Dunga had warned Joseph earlier not to mention that thing between her and Ozuma, since he knew it would upset her, but Joseph said it anyways. "Is this because of Ozuma?"

Mariam bit down hard on her lip. "Joseph…" she started with a weary sigh.

"NO!" Joseph yelled back. "You're only acting this way because that stupid thing you had with Ozuma! Ever since that thing, you just don't care anymore! And you're blaming everyone for it! If you're so mad, why don't you blame Ozuma! You're a bitch!"

And Mariam lost it; she hit him. Not the way other girls would by just slapping across the cheek; she actually punched him.

Mariam just stared at her brother who fell over and her rage faded when she saw the hurt in his eyes.

"Joseph, I'm…" she couldn't finish. What was she supposed to say to him? 'You called me a bitch so I hit you; you asked for it.'? 'You think you understand but you don't, and I don't like cockiness'?

Wait, that wouldn't make sense; she, herself, was cocky at times…at least before that thing with Ozuma.

Joseph just stared back at her; she hit him…her own brother… and it wasn't the impact of the punch that hurt him (although it did hurt), but it was the fact that she'd even go so far as to hit her _younger_ brother.

The boy began to cry. Mariam looked down at him, then picked him up and sat down, putting him in her lap.

"Joseph, I'm sorry." she said softly.

Joseph couldn't hear her; his mind was still clouded with the thought of what just happened. He couldn't bring himself to say that he felt so alone, because he couldn't trust her anymore; he couldn't trust anyone.

Mariam rocked back and forth, then brushed some of his olive bangs out of his eyes. "I'm sorry…"

Ozuma watched from the window with a piercing glare and his arms folded over his chest. As far as he saw, Joseph _did_ bring it on himself.

_End of Flashback_

Ozuma looked back down at Joseph, still talking to Kai.

* * *

"…she hurt me." Joseph shook his head. 

Kai raised a brow. "Then why were you so happy when Rei said that she fought with me against those two?" he nodded his head at Tyson and Max.

Joseph rubbed his elbow shyly. "Because I thought, that maybe she learned to work with people again, then she could come back."

"Why do you want her back?" Kai asked as gently as he could.

"I…I don't feel safe without her."

Kai stared at the boy; he had some insecurity problems, Kai could clearly see that. But a few minutes ago, Joseph was crying because Mariam had hit him. Now, he was worrying that he'd never see her again.

He began to see Mariam's point of view on the whole thing, all except the part about Ozuma, of course. But he understood enough.

She'd been hurt, so now, she felt that everyone else in the world would hurt her, so she kept away from them. That didn't explain the rebellious part.

"Kai?"

The Russian looked back at Joseph, who was staring at him with curiosity. "She's at the pond, Joseph."

"How do you know?" Joseph asked.

"I just do."

The olive-haired boy nodded.

Kai stood up. "If you're going to find her, I'm going with you."

"Why?"

"I just…" Kai kept the uncaring look on his face, but his eyes projected much more than that, "have to settle some things."

Again, Joseph nodded. "Alright."

* * *

"Mariam, what're you doing!" Kai said a bit loudly. 

The violet-haired girl glanced over at him. "Oh, it's you…" she then looked at Joseph standing beside the slate-haired Russian. "What do you mean, what am I doing? What are _you_ doing with Joseph? Kidnapping?"

Kai just stared at her as she pulled Joseph away from him. "He came to me."

Mariam put Joseph behind her, to protect him. "What do you want, Kai?"

"To settle things."

"What, have you come to ramble on about how you're superior to me?" Mariam spat.

Kai smirked. "Ramble, no. Talk about superiority, maybe. Help, also a possibility."

"Get to the bloody point."

"Okay, you say that you call it 'thinking for yourself', but by what Joseph told me, it sounds like 'doing things for the sake of pain'." Kai crossed his arms.

"Joseph told you…?" she looked at her brother behind her and sent him a hard glare.

"You have a soft side." Kai taunted.

Mariam narrowed her eyes firmly and glared at the smirking Russian for a while. After a few seconds of that, she felt something stinging her eyes and turned away, trying to run again.

"Mare!"

"Mariam!"

Mariam felt a warm hand pulling on her wrist, finding Kai preventing her from running. Joseph was standing nearby, glaring up at her.

"Let me go!" Mariam ordered harshly. As much as she pulled against him, Kai didn't budge; he was smirking, making it look like her attempts were pointless. Her eyes shut tight as she continued to struggle.

"Mariam, remember what Ozuma said?" Joseph asked, trying to help her.

Mariam's eyes opened, staring at her brother. "Huh?"

"What'dya mean 'huh?'? Don't you remember?" Joseph asked, irritated.

She shook her head numbly. "No…what?"

"Well, I dunno, I thought you knew."

"Idiots," Kai scoffed. "Both of you."

"Thanks, really." Mariam said dully.

"You're welcome." Kai smirked.

Mariam rolled her eyes. "What'dya want, Kai?"

"I don't think you're rebellious, Mariam."

"Then what _do_ you think? I am just _dying_ to know."

Kai let out a sigh. "I think…you're just like me."

Mariam's eyes widened and raised her other arm to hit him, but he grabbed that one, holding both of her arms in front of her.

"That wasn't smart." Kai retorted, smirking. She started struggling against him again, but like last time, no good result…for her at least.

Mariam stopped struggling and looked up at him. "What do you _want_ from me?"

Kai noticed that although her face was stern, with a look projecting only sullen hate, her eyes were quivering, with fear or hurt.

"Look, you may not understand what's going on, but I do. Ozuma hurt you, so what? I…" Kai began, _I can't believe I'm saying this but…_ "I'll help you."

Mariam gave him another hard look. "Why should I trust _you_?"

* * *

(blink blink) Don't look at me; I didn't do a thing. I think they're OOC… but what do I know? I haven't seen the show in a while. And the way I put Mariam's character is confusing even me… Oh well… I got the cookies from the cookie jar back :D I think some parts don't make sense, but we don't have to mind them, do we? Watch, in the next chapter, Tyson, Max, Kenny and Hilary are possibly not gonna be there. Not sure about Dunga and Rei, 'cause they could be useful...hm... 

But I got some Kai/Mariam in there…at least I hope I did.

You can still review! (Because I don't know what I'm trying to do with this story anymore! And this is only the second chapter…boy, I'm sad…)


	3. Mood Swings

Alright, I'm trying to make each chapter at a minimum of 6 pages in Word, size 9 font, Verdana, (1st chapter was 6 pages, and 2nd chapter was 7 pages)

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: See previous (at least until I'm not lazy)

_

* * *

Mariam stopped struggling and looked up at him. "What do you _want_ from me?" _

_Kai noticed that although her face was stern, with a look projecting only sullen hate, her eyes were quivering, with fear or hurt._

"_Look, you may not understand what's going on, but I do. Ozuma hurt you, so what? I…" Kai began,_ I can't believe I'm saying this but… _"I'll help you."_

_Mariam gave him another hard look. "Why should I trust _you_?"_

* * *

Kai stared at her, and figured that she didn't know what she was doing anymore. "Because I know you better than you know yourself right now. And at the moment, I don't think you don't even trust yourself." 

Mariam stared down at the ground, then narrowed her eyes in glowering disgust. _'Don't even trust myself'? What does he think I am, some sad little girl waiting to be rescued? Well, I don't need his pity. _

She remained still for a few more seconds, giving Kai the impression that she was calm, that she was fine, that she wouldn't lash out at him. Once Kai thought that was so, he loosened his grip.

Mariam quickly freed herself from his grip, and got her arm ready to either hit him or slap him; Kai couldn't tell.

To Kai's surprise, it was a quick downward slap, but once her hand had come in contact with his cheek, he grabbed her wrist again.

"I said I was going to help you, and this is what I get?" Kai asked in a low tone.

"Yes, it's exactly what you get!" Mariam retorted, "You think you can come up to me and think you know everything about my life, and _offer_ your help. You think I'm some sad little girl who's just waiting to be rescued by some cheesy prince in horrid tights." She shuddered at the thought.

Even Joseph grimaced when she said that. "Eww! Kai in tights! That's _nasty_, Mare!" he shuddered, "Oh, I'm gonna have nightmares for _weeks_! Nasty, nasty, nasty!" the boy swatted the air.

Kai glared at the boy, then transferred his stare back at Mariam. "I never said that I thought you were a sad little girl."

"Well, that's the impression you gave." Mariam put her free hand on her hip.

"Well, that's just jumping to conclusions, isn't it, Mariam?" Kai smirked.

Mariam growled in annoyance. Insufferable boy! Ew, did she just call him 'boy'? Wow, she needed to spend more time away from him. Stupid Kai…

"So it is…" Mariam retorted.

"And another time you jumped to conclusions," Kai said, "You thought I kidnapped Joseph."

Mariam scoffed. "Well, you _did_. I should charge you."

Kai scoffed in returned. "For what? Helping your brother?"

She growled. "Ugh! I can just never win, can I?"

"Nope," he shook his head, "so don't even try."

Mariam tried struggling again. "Let me go!

Kai merely chuckled at her, then tilted his head to the side. "I already told you that can't win, so why are you still trying?"

"I'm not about to take orders from _you_, Kai." She spat his name like venom.

"Heh…struggle all you want, Mariam."

Mariam rolled her eyes. "Great, you're _harassing_ me."

"Hmph." Kai scoffed. "It's not harassment when I'm trying to help you."

"Well, then," Mariam glared up at him, "you can _help_ me by letting me go," she firmly and swiftly took her wrist back, "and leaving me alone."

Kai looked shocked for a moment, but then lowered it to a smirk. "Well, if you could've gotten out, why didn't you do so earlier?"

"Uh, uh…" Mariam flushed lightly. "Shut up!"

"Nasty!" Kai and Mariam looked down at Joseph, still swatting the air.

Mariam rolled her eyes. "Joseph, are you still thinking about Kai in tights, ya nasty?"

Joseph looked up at his sister. "Oh…well…maybe?"

"Now _you're_ just nasty, kid." Mariam shook her head, ruffling her brother's hair.

"I take offense to that!" Kai shouted.

"Shut up." Mariam glared hard. "C'mon, Joe, let's go." She put an arm around her brother's neck, walking him back to the village.

* * *

"It was a mistake, and you know it was." Dunga grinned, trying to comfort his friend. 

Ozuma looked over to him. "It wasn't her fault…"

The dirty-blond haired boy but his hands behind his head. "Ya told me that already."

"Y'know, you _could_ try helping." Ozuma smirked, although the look on his face displayed some kind of lost hurt. Uneasiness, and smiling for the sake of hiding.

"I _would_ if I had experience in that department."

Ozuma looked at him dully. "Spell 'experience'."

Dunga looked at his wristband. "Oh wow, look at that. It's my turn to clean the temple." He walked off, leaving Ozuma alone in the small room.

The red and black haired leader shook his head, smirking. "Dunga. Dunga. Dunga."

Ozuma sighed, sitting on the bed nearby, then fell face-up on the mattress, and spread his arms.

The sound of the cloth door being ruffled stole Ozuma's attention, seeing Mariam with Joseph in the doorway.

Mariam took one saddened glance at him, then looked down at Joseph, leading him back to his room.

"And she hates me." Ozuma muttered to himself.

"…I'm not a little kid, Mare! I can go to my room when I want!" Joseph's voice was heard.

"Joseph, please don't do this." Mariam sighed. "We just got back."

"I'm not a little kid." The boy insisted.

Mariam looked defeated, in a way, then turned away. "Alright. I'll be around." She uttered and walked away.

Joseph went up to Ozuma, mumbling some things.

"What's up, little man?" the emerald-eyed leader asked.

"Don't downgrade me like that!" Joseph said with a slight hint of teasing in his voice. "I get enough of that from _Mariam_."

Ozuma sat up and sent his eyes downward. Joseph noticed.

"If you know what's bothering her, why don't you just say sorry already?" he asked, taking a seat beside him.

Ozuma shook his head. "If you really knew what's wrong, saying sorry wouldn't do anything."

"Jeez, you guys are so downbeat. It was fun when she was fighting with Kai." Joseph grinned.

"Kai? She was fighting with Kai?" Joseph nodded. "Like battling or just…arguing?" Ozuma asked, or demanded.

"Arguing…like yelling things at him."

Ozuma seemed interested. "Like what? What did she say?"

"She thought Kai kidnapped me."

"O…kay." The leader replied, frightened in a way, "what else?"

"Harassment."

"Interesting…" Ozuma nodded uneasily. "That it?"

"Basically." Joseph replied.

Ozuma smiled, but it was an unsure one, possibly to hide something from the sibling of his…well, ex, basically. "Alright, run along, little man."

Joseph stood up. "Jeez, everyone looks down on me." He muttered to himself. When the olive-haired boy got to the door, he broke into laughter. "Hah! Kai in tights! Classic…"

Ozuma raised a confused brow then shook his head. _Must be another one of his delusional fantasies… Mariam would never say or think that…_ he smiled to himself, lying back on the bed leisurely. _Would she?_

* * *

Rei looked up from his spot at the dojo steps, seeing Kai walking back to him. 

"Kai? Where the hell have you been?" the neko-jin asked, angrily.

"I went to help Joseph find Mariam, remember?" Kai replied smugly.

Rei blinked innocently. "Huh…I thought you said you didn't like Mariam."

"Yes, I did say that." Kai said, pressing past him. He turned his head and gave the Chinese blader an oblique glare. "Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing." Rei grinned. "Bye!" he ran off.

Kai's eyes narrowed and he clenched his teeth together angrily. "He knows something…" he muttered to himself. "Rei, you'd better get your ass back here!" Kai yelled, running after him.

Kai ran, but stopped when he found Rei leaning against a pole with a timer.

"Hmm…two minutes and forty-three seconds. You're usually faster than that, Kai." Rei grinned. "Why?"

Kai growled at this. "Kon, you bastard, get back here!"

Rei started running again. "Kuso…reset, damn you, reset!" he said, fidgeting with the timer as he ran.

"KOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNN!" Kai yelled.

"Crap! Why'd he have to be a good runner?" Rei asked, breaking into sweat.

"…and that's what he told me." Rei looked up, seeing a couple walking in front of him.

"Damn! Move! Move!" Rei tried warning, but bumped into the male, 'causing them both to fall over.

"Rei?" the female asked, looking at him.

Rei looked up. "Mariam?"

"Yeah, what?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Who's this?" the neko-jin looked down at the male he fell on. "Oh hi, Ozuma!"

"Ah! For the love of…get off!" Ozuma grunted.

Rei grimaced. "Okay, okay." He said, getting up.

"What're you running from?" Mariam asked.

"KOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!"

Rei chuckled, helping Ozuma up. "Um…that."

"Who is tha----?" before Mariam could finish, she got toppled to the ground. "Ow…"

"Mariam?" Kai asked.

Mariam's eyes were shut tight, feeling a sharp pain pressing down on her. "Ow, it's you." She grunted. "God, you're heavy… Get the hell off me!"

Kai got up. "You have temper issues." He held a hand down to her.

Mariam looked at his hand, then closed her eyes and got up on her own. "You're heavy; what do you do all day?"

"Do you really wanna know?" Kai glared at her.

She grimaced and backed off. "Not anymore, no."

"Good."

"SO…" Rei started, clasping his hands together, "what brings you two out here?" he asked Ozuma and Mariam.

"We're talking, is that such a crime?" Ozuma asked.

"Oh." Rei said.

Kai scoffed. "Talking about how you've hurt her?"

Ozuma growled a bit and clenched his fist.

Mariam glanced down at Ozuma's fist, then put her hands over it. "Ozuma, I doubt he's even worth it."

Ozuma relaxed his hand again. "Fine." She let go. "C'mon, Mariam." He and Mariam turned around, with Ozuma putting an arm around her shoulder.

The red and black haired boy turned his head and gave Kai a hard glare before the pair walked off.

Kai snarled and turned around quickly. "He's such a bastard; I hate that guy." He began walking away, and Rei ran over beside him.

"Wow, what bit your butt today?"

Kai just looked at him.

"Figure of speech." Rei replied.

"Hn." Kai crossed his arms.

"It's just Ozuma; he's _always_ been like that and you haven't started hating him until recently. What made ya change your mind, Kai-ey boy?"

The Russian glared at him. "Don't call me that." He warned, "Rei-ey boy."

Rei shrugged, smiling. "But why'd ya change your mind? Is it because of a certain person of whom I will not name?" he implied.

"No." Kai retorted. "I just don't like him."

"But why now?"

Kai sneered. "Because he's…shut up."

Rei grinned. "Ooh! You _like_ her, don't you?"

Kai decided on how to respond to that. "Hn."

Rei's grin dropped. "Wait…Kai? Is that a yes or a no?"

The Russian walked off while Rei stopped for a bit to think about it.

"Kai?" the neko-jin asked, then ran to catch the Russian, "Kai? Is it a yes? Is it a no? Kai?"

* * *

"Mariam, are you willing to work with the others again?" the elder asked. 

"Not particularly," Mariam scoffed, rolling her eyes and folding her arms over her chest, "no."

"Mariam, how long will you go through this 'rebellious' stage of yours?"

"It's not a _stage_, it's a way of life; I can think for myself. I don't need someone telling me what to do and breathing down my back all the time."

The elder sighed. "No, that would be Ozuma's job, wouldn't it?"

Mariam's eyes widened. Only Dunga and Joseph knew about her little… whatever it was with Ozuma.

"KISAMA!" she screamed as loud as she could, then stormed out of the temple.

* * *

"You _swore_ at the elders?" Joseph asked his sister, amazed, "Just because he brought up that thing with Ozuma?" 

"No one was supposed to know about that!" Mariam screeched, "You and Dunga were the only ones who knew! You told him, didn't you, you little bastard?"

Joseph looked frightened again. "I didn't do anything, Mare, I swear I didn't!"

Mariam gave him a deadly glare. "Joseph…" she started.

"I didn't!" tears were forming the boy's eyes, "Why would I?"

"Joseph, don't lie to me!"

Joseph shook his head, the tears falling. "Please don't hit me again."

Mariam calmed down; why was Joseph so good at doing that?

"Joseph…" Mariam said gently.

Joseph turned away, afraid of her touch.

"He wouldn't do anything anymore; you have him too scared that you'll hit him again." Dunga said from the doorway.

"What do _you_ know?" Mariam retorted.

"I know enough."

_Which isn't very much,_ Mariam thought to herself.

"You're the only one in his life he has left. How do you think it is for him? The only person left in his life hits him?"

"I…" Mariam started, "didn't know."

"Know ya do, eh?" Dunga grinned.

"You stopped sounding profound when you said that," Mariam rolled her eyes.

"Meh." The sandy-haired man walked away.

She turned back to Joseph. "Joe…you okay?"

"Why do you want to hit me?" Joseph asked.

"I don't _want _to hit you…but…remember that thing that happened with Ozuma?" Joseph nodded. "Well, that…upset me. And I have to take out my anger on something. And it just happened to be you…because I didn't know you'd care."

Joseph stared at her, then wiped his eye. "Does this look like I don't care?"

"Hm." Mariam sighed, sitting on her knees.

"Mariam?"

"Hm?" Mariam looked at him.

Joseph sat down in front of her, crossing his legs. "What _did_ happen with Ozuma?"

"Why'dya wanna know?"

"I wanna know the reason why you're so mean all the time."

Mariam stared at him.

* * *

There, 8 pages! Don't expect the next to be 9 automatically… 

Well…I think…Kai might hurt Rei in the next chap… Again, they might be OOC, but we'll just leave them like that… Hmm, I just noticed that that there's a whole Mariam/Ozuma thing in the story… I'll explain that thing next chap. (It might have a bit Max/Mariam in there… since in the beginning of the second chap, Max is standing up for Mariam.)

But…must make it…Kai/Mariam. (Joseph will make sure of that)

I'll see if I want Tyson and the others in the next chapter. And I do realize that Joseph has mood swings but…that's uh, puberty for ya? (How'm I supposed to know? I'm not a guy…)

You can still review! (still don't know what I'm doing!)


	4. Giving It Up

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: See previous (but to sum it up; I don't own Beyblade)

* * *

"_Mariam?"_

"_Hm?" Mariam looked at him. _

_Joseph sat down in front of her, crossing his legs. "What_ did_ happen with Ozuma?"_

"_Why'dya wanna know?"_

"_I wanna know the reason why you're so mean all the time."_

_Mariam stared at him. _

* * *

"Joseph…" she started, breathing out a sigh, "I'm mean…because he hurt me."

"I know that…" Joseph sighed dully, "I wanna know _how_ he hurt you."

"I thought you already knew." Mariam blinked.

The boy shook his head. "I just knew something happened with you and Ozuma; I don't know what it was."

Mariam stared at her brother; his eyes were quivering in fear and anticipation, but they still projected a fierce quality, pressuring her to talk.

"Okay, okay, it started kinda like this…" Mariam started, sighing.

_Flashback_

Mariam and Ozuma were going into a big, dim-lit room. Ozuma slammed the door open and walked forward while Mariam came behind by only a few steps, closing the door gently.

"Ozuma, what was that about!" Mariam yelled.

Ozuma's back was facing her, but he merely gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. "_That_, Mariam? _That_ was nothing…I could do _way _worse."

"You didn't have to hurt him like that!" Mariam shouted back.

"I…_He_ was _hitting_ on you, Mari." Ozuma stated calmly, despite her shouting.

"Ya didn't have to hit him…" Mariam muttered quietly.

Finally, Ozuma turned to face her. "So, everything I worked for…is nothing to you?"

"I didn't say that." Mariam looked away. She shook her head. "It's the opposite…"

"Mari…I," Ozuma started, then looked at her face, "Go ahead…"

"Go where?"

"With Max."

"But he's… just an opponent." Mariam said softly.

"Not anymore, apparently." Ozuma glared.

Mariam's eyes were quivering. "You…you can't do this to me…"

Ozuma didn't respond, besides giving her his back again.

"Ozuma!" Mariam yelled.

His emerald eyes darted around as Mariam kept yelling at him.

"…Ozuma, what is your bloody problem! Ozuma, answer me, dammit!"

His answer; attacking her with Flash Leopard. It spun rapidly around her, until it dug a crevice into the ground, around her feet, also causing the powered up cement to fly around them.

"Ozuma!" Mariam shouted again, the anger vanishing from her voice.

Ozuma backed away into the shadows, but she could see the flash in his eyes; he was shaking his head at her.

Once he backed away far enough so that she couldn't see anything, Flash Leopard flew into the shadows, into Ozuma's hand, Mariam presumed, and she expected them to have vanished.

Mariam shook her head, then opened the door, finding Dunga's ear to the door.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Mariam spat.

"Nothing!" Dunga scurried off.

_End of Flashback_

"Wait…is that it?" Joseph asked, interrupting her.

Mariam just stared at him. "You don't even get it…"

"You're mean…because Ozuma left you in the dark," the boy inquired, "literally?"

The lavender-haired girl smiled, letting out a small chuckle. "Joe, it's like when I hit you…if it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't matter to you, but…when it does mean everything, like being left alone in the world, then it will matter to you."

Joseph nodded, "I see…but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Ozuma came to me a few months ago…he told me how I was so distant from everything and everything. He told me that…he didn't want me to be distant anymore, then he said that he liked me… I asked him what that had to do with anything. He said he'd stop me from being lonely…" Mariam shook her head.

"And he was the only person I felt that I could…trust and talk to. So when he left me in the dark, I had no one…" Mariam took a glance at her brother, "just like you."

"OH…" Joseph nodded, grinning, "so it's not what he _did_ to you really, it's what it meant that mattered, right?"

"Exactly." Mariam smiled.

"And _that's_ why you got mad at Dunga when he called you 'Mari'."

Mariam dropped the smile. "Yeah."

Joseph smirked, then started skipping around the room. "Mari, Mari, Mari! Mari, Mari, Mari! Mari, Mari, Mar---"

Mariam interrupted his little dance. "Kai in tights." She said flatly.

"Oh God…eww!" Joseph grimaced. "Nasty!" he ran out of the room.

Mariam smirked. "It never fails…"

* * *

Kai nodded slowly, "Right…and you had to come here and tell us this, why?"

Dunga shrugged. "Ozuma asked me to."

"Interesting…" Kai nodded, faking interest, "why?"

"Something about Mariam…"

"Well, let's see; your whole story just now was about her." Kai seemed aggravated.

Dunga sighed. "I _tried_ to help, and you blow it back in my face."

Kai fanned the air. "You also blew your breath in my face." He reached into his pocket and drew out a small mint. "Here; you need this _way_ more than I do." Kai shoved the mint into the sandy-haired man's hands.

Dunga growled at the Russian. "You're a bother…" he ate the mint, "just like Mariam."

Rei came over. "_Coincidence_, isn't it, Kai?"

Kai grunted at the Chinese blader. "Think what you want." He folded his arms over his chest.

The three remained there, still. Dunga was looking back and forth between Kai and Rei, while Rei looked at Kai, and the Russian was glaring down at the grass under their shoes.

The next voice stole their attention. "Kai!"

The three looked over at Joseph, coming up on the hill where they were.

"What do you want, you little br---" Kai began, growling, and then stopped at what was behind Joseph.

Mariam came up, following Joseph. First thing she did was glare at the other Saint Shield. "Dunga, what the hell are you doing?"

Dunga gave her a shy shrug, hoping she wouldn't notice. "Um…"

She stared at him for a while. "Oh my god, you _told_ Kai, didn't you?"

Dunga chuckled uneasily. "Oh um…gotta run!" he ran off the hill.

Rei looked at Joseph, then, from behind Kai, Rei started signaling that they should leave them. Joseph nodded.

"C'mon, Joseph, let's see if Tyson and Max have the Skittles they owe me." Rei started, leading the smaller boy away. "See ya, Kai-ey bo---"

"Don't…even." Kai glared.

Rei just grinned. "Okay, whatever. Let's go, Joe."

Mariam glanced at them, then hearing her brother's voice fading off, "Don't do that, Rei…"

The girl of jaded eyes looked at the slate-haired Russian. "Well, aren't you going to go with them? Leave me alone in my own pity? Let me sit here and wallow on my own?" she fell on her knees.

Kai scoffed and glanced down at her, moving slowly toward her. "You don't seem like the wallowing type," he smirked, looking down at her, "Mari."

"So? I can wallow if I want! I don't need you to keep watching out for me! I knew you thought I was some sad little girl!" Mariam couldn't help but yell at him, for doing nothing but say she was stronger than this.

Kai chuckled at her. She glared up. "What's so funny?"

"You let me call you 'Mari'," he said, smirking, "and Dunga _so assured_ me you hated it."

Mariam bit her lip. "Uh, uh…shut up!"

"Is that your answer for everything? Stutter and yell 'shut up'?"

Mariam shook her head. "Only to you."

"And why's that?"

She shrugged. "I dunno…but you have that affect on me."

"Right…" Kai said uneasily. He turned his head away so she couldn't see his face.

"Whatcha see?" Mariam asked, standing up.

"See?" Kai asked, biting a bit on his lip. "See what?"

Mariam rolled a shrug. "Well, you turned away; did you see something?"

Kai glanced back at her. "No, nothing… 'cept the grass."

"You're fascinated by grass?" Mariam kept from laughing.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, really Mariam, grass is the best thing ever."

Mariam sent him a dull look. "What're you doing?" she asked. Kai crouched down and picked up some of the grass. "Kai, what're you doing?" she asked again, but in a more frightened tone.

Kai stood up, smirking. "This." He threw the bunch of grass at her.

Mariam had her mouth slightly opened. "Kai!" she looked down at herself; there were bits of grass all over her clothes.

"Hn?" he smirked.

"You like grass, huh?" Mariam asked. Kai did nothing but smirk and cross his arms. "I'll give you grass!" she pushed his chest, making harder for him to balance.

"Mariam!" Kai yelled, trying to keep from falling. Mariam just smirked, putting her hands on her hips. "Oh, if _I_ go down, _you're_ coming with me!"

Mariam's eyes widened when Kai's hand grabbed onto her arm. "Ah! Kai, let me go! Ow!"

Kai lost his balance and fell over, taking Mariam with him. They slid a bit, with Kai's back getting some grass stains, then rolled until they reached the bottom.

"Ow…ow…" Kai groaned. _And she says _I'm_ heavy_… he thought to himself. Mariam ended up on top.

She opened her eyes. "Ah! I'm alive! Oh, I could kiss you!"

"What the…?" Kai asked, looking disturbed.

"Huh?" Mariam asked, realizing it was him. "AH! Get away! Get away, pervert!" she grabbed as much grass as she could and threw it down on him, then got off. She stood up, her fists to her sides.

Mariam was pacing, muttering things to herself. Kai just sat up and smirked, putting an elbow on his upright knee.

"Keep your hands to yourself, little boy!" Mariam yelled at him.

Kai just chuckled, dusting himself off. "You're the one who pushed me."

"You're the one who grabbed me!"

Kai tilted his head to the side slightly. "Did you notice that you get upset _very_ easily?"

"Yes, I did!" she answered quickly.

"Have you _always_ been like that?" he asked.

Mariam stopped pacing at looked at him. "No…it started just very recently."

"So calm and cool's always been your way, huh?"

"Basically." Mariam sighed, sitting down in front of him, crossing her legs.

Kai stared at the grass under his shoe. Mariam was pulling out grass and tying two pieces into a knot, then throwing it over her shoulder.

"Mariam, who would you consider your…friends?"

She looked at him, throwing one more knotted grass piece over her shoulder. "Well, there are people I know, but they're not friends."

"But your…friends?"

Mariam sighed, looking away. "Probably Joseph and Max, I suppose." She looked at the horizon sadly, "and everyone else I just…know."

Kai just nodded and stared at her.

Mariam stood up, "Hey, I'm hungry." she said randomly.

"Huh? Fine, let's go." Kai said, standing up.

Mariam blinked. "You don't have to come, Kai, I'm not a little girl, remember?"

"I know," Kai rolled his eyes, facing away, "the closest place is probably Tyson's…"

"I know my way around, Kai. Ozuma always sent us to spy on people so I think I know my way around." Mariam crossed her arms.

Kai glanced at her. "You said his name…"

"No, I didn't." Mariam denied, shaking her head.

"Yeah, you did, Mariam, don't deny it."

Mariam stared at him for a while. Kai was smirking down at her, to say that he'd won their little feud. His smirk faded when he noticed the hurt and sadness in her eyes. "Mariam, I just…"

"C'mon, we're gonna be late." Mariam finally uttered out.

"Late for what?" Kai asked, wearing a confused look.

Mariam forced a smile. "Food."

"Oh…fine," he crossed his arms, "whatever."

* * *

"Okay, you win." Mariam sighed, slamming her hands on the table.

Kai raised a brow. "Win what?"

"You win." Mariam repeated, "I'm not competing with you anymore…you can be Mr. Rebellious and rule whatever, but I quit…you're the king. I'll be the girl who washes the dishes."

"Really?" Kai asked, amused.

"Yeah, I give up." Mariam's head hit the table, "you win, okay?"

"No, I meant about washing the dishes." Kai smirked.

Mariam raised her head. "No, I was joking, you moron."

"Aw, I was gonna have so much fun watching you wash all the dishes." Kai smirked.

"_Your_ dishes, fine. _Tyson's_ dishes, in your dreams." Mariam crossed her arms.

"I heard that!" Tyson yelled from outside.

Mariam smirked. "Too bad!" she yelled.

"That's not very nice." He leaned back in his chair.

"Watch me care, Kai." Mariam said, landing her chin in her palm and resting her elbow on the table.

Tyson's grandfather came walking by their little table.

"Excuse me, sir, but where's our damn food?" Mariam asked, slamming her hands on the table again.

He raised a brow and went over to her. "Aw, Max's girly has attitude. What're you doing with Kai?" he asked, pinching her cheek.

Mariam slapped his hand away. "Sir, you're supposed to be _wise_… and you have a lot to learn."

Mr. Granger just grunted at her. "I swear, Max picks the strangest little girls…" he said as he walked away.

"I am not Max's girl and I am _not little_!" she shouted.

Kai chuckled, sipping his water.

"And what are _you_ laughing at, Hiwatari?" Mariam demanded.

The Russian put his glass of water down. "Oh, so we're on a surname basis, are we?"

"Shut up." Mariam grunted.

Tyson's grandfather came back with two plates, setting them in front of the pair. "Here's your damn food, girly." He mumbled to Mariam.

Mariam rolled her eyes. "At long last…I won't die of starvation."

"Oh hahaha." The man said lifelessly.

"Just go and let me eat." Mariam sighed, picking up her fork.

Mr. Granger shook his head, walking away. "I should tell Max to talk some sense into his girlfriend…"

"I'm not his girlfriend! What the hell's wrong with you, old man?"

Tyson, from outside, heard that. "Ooh, did she just call him 'old man'?"

Kenny, Max, Hilary, Rei and Joseph nodded.

"I'm no _old man_!"

Mariam sighed. "Denial…now go away."

Kai just smirked at her.

Mr. Granger walked away, huffing and muttering things to himself.

Mariam smiled. "_Finally_!" she started eating, "Oh and Kai?"

"Mm?" Kai looked up from his food at her.

"Joseph wants you to try something." Mariam smirked.

"Huh…what is it, first of all?"

Mariam kept smirking. "The tights from his _Romeo and Juliet_ play."

"Okay, no." Kai shook his head.

Mariam shook her head. "Aw, you'll crush his dreams."

"His or yours, Mariam?" Kai asked slyly.

"His or my what?" Mariam asked.

Kai shook his head again. "Never mind…slow girl."

"I have a _name_, okay?"

"I know that." Kai smirked, "it's fun getting you mad."

Mariam glared at him. "You're an idiot, y'know that?"

Kai chuckled. "There you go again."

"What?"

"Never mind." Kai smirked.

* * *

Okay, so it _was_ 9 pages, but still… And yes, I'm assuming that your reaction to the Mariam/Ozuma thing was the same as Joseph's. Well, in my mind, I had it more complex and longer than that, but I didn't know how to put it in words.

And that thing with Mariam and Kai falling with Mariam then saying "Oh, I could kiss you!" was from Digimon Frontier…Izumi said it to Takuya when they fell, but then, Izumi grabbed Takuya, not the other way around.

And I remember seeing that Tyson's grandfather thought that Mariam was Max's girlfriend in the dub so I had to put that in…

Alright, go review please! (Even though the Mariam/Ozuma thing was weird…meh.)


	5. Lies and Bets

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: Me don't own Beyblade

* * *

"_I know that." Kai smirked, "it's fun getting you mad."_

_Mariam glared at him. "You're an idiot, y'know that?"_

_Kai chuckled. "There you go again."_

"_What?"_

"_Never mind." Kai smirked._

* * *

"Here, Tyson." Mariam shoved some money into Tyson's hands, "Thanks for the food."

Tyson counted the money in his hands. "Hey, doesn't gramps get a tip?"

Mariam glanced over at him. "Fine." She huffed, tossing a coin into his hands.

"Ooh, you little brat!" Tyson's grandfather yelled.

"Look, it's either that or nothing at all." Mariam crossed her arms.

"Kai-ey man, aren't you gonna pay?" Rei asked.

Kai was facing away from them. "Hn."

Mariam sighed. "I had to pay for him…"

Joseph stood up from his spot beside Kenny. "Mar, can we go home now? _He's_ probably worried."

Mariam shook her head. "You go ahead; let him worry all he wants."

"But, Mar…" Joseph started. He stared at her for a long while. '_I had no one…just like you_.' The boy finally sighed. "Alright." He ran off.

"Girly, I served you the freaking food!" Mr. Granger yelled.

Mariam waved her hand up and down at him. "Calm down, dude… I did the dishes."

"So?"

"That's gotta be worth _something_…" Mariam sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Gr…Maxie, talk some sense into your girlfriend!" the man shouted at the blond.

Max's eyes widened for a moment, then he flushed. "But, gramps…"

"Don't argue with the man, Maxie." Tyson advised.

Kai turned to face them. "Mariam, didn't you say he was your friend?"

Mariam sighed. "The old dude's crazy…"

Hilary blew out a sigh. "They're just too stubborn, aren't they?"

Kenny looked at her. "Who?"

"Max and Mariam." The brunette replied.

"Don't you mean Kai and Mariam?"

Hilary turned red. "What! No!"

"Ugh…" Kenny sighed. "And you say _they're_ stubborn…" he muttered under his breath.

Hilary slammed a fist to the top of his head. "What did you say?"

"Um…" he struggled, "…hey, Hil, are you hungry?"

"Don't try to get yourself out of this one…" the girl warned.

"…no, I did not!" Mariam yelled at the slate-haired boy.

"You kinda did." Kai replied, crossing his arms.

"When?"

"When I asked you; Max is your friend," he said curtly, "remember? Or have you forgotten how to do that?"

Mariam put her hand on her hip. "Well, Hiwatari, it seems you've lost your usefulness."

"What?" Kai asked sharply.

She raised her free hand. "Well, I just _thought_ that maybe you could help me."

"And why would I do that?"

Mariam reached into her pocket. "Perhaps to get…this back?" she held up Dranzer.

Kai felt his pocket, where Dranzer was supposed to be; wasn't there. She had it… "How'd you get…?" he made a swipe for it, only to have her withdraw her hand away from him.

"Oh, remember when we fell down the hill?" Mariam asked, smirking as she put the phoenix in her pocket. Kai nodded. "Well, when we stopped, it fell out of your pocket and I found it."

"Why didn't I see it?" Kai insisted.

Mariam smiled. "And remember when I threw the grass on you?"

"Yeah, I still kinda have the stains." He said dully.

"Oh, it was an excuse to reach down and take it."

Kai grunted. "How did Ozuma _live_ with you?"

Mariam's eyes narrowed down. "Don't make me give this back to you…piece by piece by piece."

"You'd better not."

"Then you'd better keep your mouth shut." Mariam sighed, "Why do I even bother talking to you anyways?"

"Got me…" Kai shrugged.

"Stop being a smart-ass."

Kai smirked. "No, no, Mariam, the _brain_ is smart, not the butt."

"You just won't stop with the commentary, will you?"

Kai held up a finger to get her to stop. "Remember, you still got that thing with Max."

"What thing with Max?"

Kai rolled his eyes. "Just now…the old man told Max to talk to you. Please tell me you aren't always this slow…"'

"Only occasionally…"

"So you're slow sometimes…like now."

Mariam just looked at him. "Yeah, well, I don't run that often."

"Um…" Kai raised a brow.

"You're an odd creature." Mariam concluded.

Kai just scoffed.

* * *

Ozuma's hand came down in a punch, knocking the young boy over. "Joseph, don't you say that again!"

"But Mariam said that's what happened!" The boy insisted, brushing his bangs away from his eyes.

"Well, Mariam changed some things!" the leader shouted.

"Like what?" Joseph asked, sitting up.

Ozuma sighed in annoyance. "Like Flash Leopard. Why the hell would I bring Flash Leopard to a date?"

"Perhaps you have a competitive nature?" the olive-haired boy guessed.

Ozuma put a hand to his chin. "Well, yeah, that's true, but I didn't bring Flash Leopard."

"Fine…what about the part where Mariam yelled at you and you didn't do anything?"

The leader sighed again. "Okay, do I _look_ like I have short temper?"

"Yeah." Joseph muttered, rubbing the cheek that Ozuma struck.

"Then, if she was yelling at me, why would I just stand there and take it?" Ozuma crossed his arms.

"Okay, makes sense." The boy nodded. "And the part about Max hitting on her?"

Ozuma rolled his head, stretching his neck. "_That's_ true."

Joseph saw the older boy clench his fist. "Don't hit me again!"

"What the…?" Ozuma asked, looking down at the boy, "Why would I hit you?"

"Never mind." Joseph sighed.

"Okay, what else did she tell you?"

Joseph hung his head. "That you left her alone…"

The red and raven haired boy looked at him. "She…never told me that."

"She thought you knew."

"But I _did_ call her 'Mari', I know that… why'd she tell you that?"

"That you called her 'Mari'? It was part of the story." Joseph beamed.

"Not that, idiot. That story…barely any of it happened." Ozuma turned away, letting Joseph get up. "Why would she do that?"

Joseph crossed his arms. "Yeah, and to her own brother."

"Quiet, twit." Ozuma snapped.

* * *

Max turned to the midnight blue hair-colored boy, "Tyson, if your grandfather says one more thing about that, you are _so_ getting it."

"Relax, dude…it's a joke." Tyson assured, putting a hand on the blond's shoulder, and waving a hand up and down.

Max growled. "Tyson, does _that_ look like a joke to you?" he pointed to the elderly man.

Tyson looked at his grandfather. "Yep…he's _laughing_, Maxie. It usually means a joke."

"Have your fun, Tyson." Max glared.

The Granger boy shrugged and sat down with Kenny, Hilary and Rei.

* * *

Mariam was still yelling at Kai. "No, you're not!" she shouted.

"I'm not your friend? Aw, that hurts, watch me cry." Kai said dully.

"Yeah, that'll be fun."

"Ooh, get the video camera."

Mariam stomped her foot. "Stop making me wish I had one now!"

"You're a brat." Kai scoffed.

Mariam's eyes widened. "What? I'm not one of those girls with those big lips, huge heads, and insignificant bodies!"

Kai gave her a 'you're a crazy person' look. "What? No, not those Bratz, moron."

"Hmph."

* * *

"Five bucks says you can't ask her out." Tyson challenged.

Max rolled his eyes. "And what makes you think that I'll submit myself to that, Tyson?"

"Five…dollars." Tyson smirked, holding up five fingers and raising his eyebrows up and down at the blond.

"How about no?" Max sneered.

"Bu---" the blue haired boy objected.

Max crossed his arms. "And don't even give me the 'you're a chicken' routine, Ty; it won't work."

"But pleeeeeeaaaaaaase?" Tyson begged.

A smirk crossed Max's face. "Fine…if I ask Mariam, you have to ask Hilary."

"What? That _thing_ that's probably the daughter of an army sergeant?" Tyson asked, flushing as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder to her. Max nodded. "That witch?"

"Yep…" Max smirked. "Winner gets double."

Tyson eyed Max's outstretched arm suspiciously for a while, then returned the smirk. "Fine, you got yourself a deal, Tate." The Granger boy shook the blond's hand.

"Good." Max smiled, "and it's a bet, not a deal, Tyson."

"Fine." Tyson huffed.

"You have to get them out by the end of the week." Max added.

"A-wha?"

Max just laughed at him. "Typical Tyson…" he ran back over to Hilary and Kenny.

* * *

Joseph crossed his arms. "So what's _your_ side then?" he asked the leader.

Ozuma smirked. "Fine, but don't say a word to your sister; she'll kill me and resurrect me…and kill me again, alright?"

"Okay, okay, I won't tell _her_." Joseph grunted. He hated using pronouns instead of their names in front of the other.

* * *

There…I'll retry the Mariam/Ozuma thing, but this time, I'll use the one I had planned in my head…but don't blame me if it doesn't make sense. (It'll probably be long though..._probably_...)

This seemed like more of a filler chapter (back to 6 pages, and I rushed…) and um…just remember the important bits.

Okay, byes now!


	6. Doubtful Ozuma

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

_

* * *

Joseph crossed his arms. "So what's your side then?" he asked the leader._

_Ozuma smirked. "Fine, but don't say a word to your sister; she'll kill me and resurrect me…and kill me again, alright?"_

"_Okay, okay, I won't tell _her_." Joseph grunted. He hated using pronouns instead of their names in front of the other._

* * *

Ozuma shook his head. "You sure, little man?" he asked, sitting down.

Joseph, who was already crossing his legs, nodded. "Yeah, man, I'm her brother."

_

* * *

Flashback (A/N: hopefully, this one works)_

Ozuma was pacing around in front of the park entrance. Mariam was supposed to meet him here; where the hell was she?

Ozuma looked at his wrist. "Oh yeah…I've got to remember to bring a watch next time." He sighed to himself. He'd just pace a little bit more; maybe it wouldn't seem so desperate if it was just a _little_ while, right?

"Yeah." He nodded. Just a few more steps. Ozuma clenched his fist near his chest in determination; yeah, only a little while more.

"…forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine…" Ozuma counted, watching his steps.

"Ozuma!" he turned around to see Dunga running up to him, to his disappointment.

Ozuma blew his crimson strand of hair from his eye. "What is it, Dunga?" he asked dryly.

Dunga looked up in thought for a moment. "Now what was it…? Oh yeah!" he exclaimed. Ozuma raised an amused brow at him. "Okay, Mariam says that she can't go to your little date-y thingy… 'cause she has this weird thing to do."

"What thing?"

"I dunno…she just said 'some thing' to go to. She said she was just gonna walk around the streets for a while if you needed her." Dunga grinned.

"Uh…huh," Ozuma nodded slowly, "okay. Dunga, where's my cloak?"

Dunga pondered again. "Um…in your room?" he supposed.

"Right. Can you get it?"

"Wha?" Dunga fumed, "Why me?"

"Because I asked you to." Ozuma crossed his arms. Really, he could see why Mariam took so much joy in annoying this guy.

Dunga grumbled and walked off. Ozuma just sighed, shaking his head.

"Excuse me, but do you have the time?" he asked a stranger reading a newspaper on the bench.

"About, five to five o'clock, kid." The man answered, then lifted his newspaper back up.

Ozuma nodded. "Thanks…"

Dunga came back, two minutes later with Ozuma's cloak.

"Jeez, you take long." Ozuma grumbled, putting the cloak on, then lifted the hood over his head.

Dunga just walked off, ignoring the spiky-haired boy.

"Whatever." Ozuma sighed, then ran off, asking people on the streets if they'd seen a girl with indigo hair in a high ponytail with two strands and a red headband on her forehead.

"Over near the diner, kid." Another man replied.

Ozuma uttered out another 'thanks' and ran over to the diner the man said. And being Ozuma, he knew fully well that it would look suspicious if a person with a hooded cloak walked into a diner, just 'asking for water'. He sighed and sat down on the bench outside the diner, grabbing a newspaper, to hide his face in case she saw him. What was Mariam doing in a diner anyways? Maybe he asked the wrong question, or gave the wrong definition of her.

He slapped his palm to his forehead. A few minutes later, Mariam came out of the diner, with someone walking beside her.

_Who the hell…?_ Ozuma wondered. _The blond kid! She said she didn't…! I mean she didn't…! Eurgh!_

Ozuma shook his head, then put the newspaper down and followed them. A while later, Mariam and her blond friend sat down at one of the tables outside near the park.

Ozuma eyed the tree nearest to them, and sighed, starting to climb. He found a nice branch that would support his weight and stood on it, watching them.

The spiky-haired leader finally got to see Mariam's blond friend. _Tate!_ Ozuma thought, staring at them.

Mariam picked up a few sticks from the ground and set them on the table in front of Max.

_What is she doing? _Ozuma wondered.

Max chuckled. "Actually, Mariam…doesn't that go there?" he asked, taking her wrist and moving the hand with the thinnest stick over to the side.

Mariam flushed. "Oh…yeah, it does!"

The blond giggled. "See? Told ya."

Ozuma shook his head over and over again. If Ozuma wasn't supposed to be unnoticed, he would've stuck the blond there and then. But, he had to see why she just ditched Ozuma like that… She'd never mentioned Tate before, and maybe she… no! She couldn't like Max! Ozuma's liked her since god-knows-when and he worked so hard to be with her… he wouldn't go down like this!

Joseph's been telling Ozuma that he'd seen the anger in the leader's eyes when he saw Mariam walking or talking to some guy alone. Ozuma even lashed out at Joseph occasionally, because the boy refused to tell him where his sister was. Then Ozuma figured; yeah, he was the aggressive, jealous type, and he accepted that…and he hoped that Mariam knew that too.

Ozuma tilted his head to the side. Maybe Mariam _used_ to like Max, then…something just made her stop after a while…maybe when the tournament was over and the Saint Shields had to say their good-byes to the Bladebreakers. (A/N: You sure that's their dub name? I liked BBA Revolution better…)

Maybe that was why he'd find Mariam crying in her sleep. Not like he intentionally went over to her room and watched her in her sleep… it was just this one time when Ozuma was passing by for a glass of water and he heard sniffling. And Ozuma wasn't an idiot; he knew Dunga rarely cried, so he looked at Joseph first. The boy was…talking about food. And Ozuma thought that was Mariam's job… whatever. So he went to her room. Oh, he was smart; she was crying. He'd never seen her do such a thing before, so he had no idea what to do. He asked her what's wrong, and all she said was something of a big turtle.

_Big turtle, big turtle…_ Ozuma tried thinking of what that meant…_ Draciel! _Okay, so Mariam had fought Max's Draciel a couple times… Crap! The 'big turtle' could've been killing Sharkrash in her dreams, for all he knew. But why cry about it? Ya win, ya lose…he knew that…Mariam knew that…Joseph knew that…_Dunga_ even knew that.

Maybe Mariam just had a dream about the blond…that made her cry…? Oh yes, because that was before Ozuma told her that he liked her, so she didn't give a monkey's butt about what Ozuma thought at the time. And Mariam might've been crying…because she was separated from Max? Oh was it because of a certain thing in her dream?

Ozuma's eyes widened and he started to swat the air. _Ah! Bad thoughts, Ozuma, bad thoughts…_ he scolded himself. Maybe he was just tutoring her… Ozuma smiled and nodded. Yeah, that was it, he was just tutoring her. Ozuma sighed in relief.

_But what is he tutoring her in?_ he wondered. Not like it was any of his business, but she knew she could always go to Ozuma… Was it something he didn't know? That's why she went to Max?

But why _Max_, of all people? Why couldn't it be Tyson or Rei or Kai or someone who didn't have a crush on her? Ozuma practically screamed in his head; it was so simple! Kenny was smart! And he didn't have a crush on Mariam…why didn't she go to him, dammit!

If Ozuma kept building up these suspicious thoughts, he would've been very close to jumping off the branch and basically ripping the blond apart. He counted for a while; not working… he inhaled deeply, exhaled deeply…he felt better, but he still could've killed the blond.

Maybe he was just jumping to conclusions (not jumping off the branch). Yeah, that was it…maybe Max was innocent and Ozuma's jealousy just got in the way. Yeah…that's it. But everything Ozuma remembered contradicted the whole freaking analysis! Maybe Max was innocent, maybe he wasn't…but Ozuma's gut was telling him that that blond was gonna get it.

Why? Ozuma's…just like that.

He glanced back down at their table. Max had made a…_right angle triangle?_ Ozuma thought.

He knew Mariam was smarter than that…he knew she knew that…Pythagorean Theorem thingy… maybe it was just an excuse to…no!

_It's always 'maybe' with you isn't it, Ozuma?_ He asked himself.

The spiky-haired boy shook his head furiously. "No…Mariam wouldn't pretend to be stupid to spend time with Tate, would she?" he muttered softly.

Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn't. Ozuma didn't understand anymore.

"Um…okay, so what's that one?" Mariam asked, pointing to the longer stick.

What the flip was this? It didn't matter which one was thinner or fatter! Why was Max telling her that the skinny stick had to go on the side! Why was _Ozuma_ freaking about because of a bunch of sticks?

_Baka!_ His mind yelled at him. _Sad, jealous baka!_

Ozuma disregarded that voice and continued to watch the pair.

"Er…that long one's the hypotenuse." Max flashed a smile, "it's always the long one…opposite of the right angle."

Mariam nodded. "Oh…I see."

Ozuma had started pinching his arm, perhaps to calm him down, perhaps to keep from attacking the blond. Mariam wasn't supposed to be like this! What was wrong with her? Ozuma turned to the side and started banging his head on the wood.

"What's that sound?" Mariam asked, looking around.

Max looked up. "Some kind of crazy…squirrel? Crazy, fat squirrel?"

"Squirrels aren't _that_ tall, are they?" Mariam asked, looking at the silhouette.

Ozuma made a small sound of panic, but then squatted down.

Max smiled. "There, that's better."

"Oh." Mariam replied, then looked back at the sticks.

"Tate, you're an idiot for thinking that squirrels are seriously this big, and then they shrink down." Ozuma muttered to himself. He'd been doing that a lot lately…talking to himself. Great, he was going partially insane. Oh, that'd be fun…

"What're they doing now?" Ozuma asked.

Max stood up. "Hey, wanna go get ice cream or something?"

Mariam looked up at him, then nodded, standing up. "Yeah, I like food."

Max just stared at her, watching her struggle with herself.

"I mean…" Mariam pondered, biting her lip. Well, she _did_ like food, but she sounded so stupid when she said it like that…or just when she said that. "Never mind."

Max just chuckled at her. "Well, come on then." He started off, taking her wrist.

"Oh? Ah!"

Ozuma sneered. He'd have to jump off the branch to follow them! Then climb up another tree later!

Perhaps Dunga could get his binoculars. But then he'd need the walkie-talkie. Maybe Dunga could get that, give it to Ozuma so Ozuma could use it to ask Dunga for the binoculars.

Ozuma tilted his head back. What kind of moronic plan was that?

"Stupid Ozuma! Stupid, stupid, stupid Ozuma!" he yelled to himself. And he didn't even know why he had started yelling at himself anyways… Do other people yell at themselves?

"Great…" he folded his arms. Ever since Tate came in the picture, Ozuma didn't know what's what and what's right anymore.

Ozuma glanced back at the table; the sticks were still there. They could be coming back, for all Ozuma knew. Everything was at a fifty-fifty chance now, and Ozuma needed to pick fast, if he picked the wrong one, bad things'll happen, and Ozuma couldn't afford that, and yet, he was gambling with these conclusions of his. But then, that's what people do…

Ozuma bit his lip, to prevent himself from going down there and doing something to Max's seat. Ozuma tried saying to himself that he wouldn't stoop so low as to sabotage Max…

It worked…for only so long. Ozuma resisted the urge to sabotage Max… only because the future victim of his plots came back, along with _his_ girlfriend.

Ozuma hadn't really linked Mariam to him in such a way before. He wasn't a big fan of the whole 'she belongs to him' and 'he's her man' stuff, but it seemed appropriate in this position, right?

Sure. Ozuma nodded to himself

"Nu-uh, I'm not stooping so low." Ozuma reminded himself, watching the pair sit back down.

Ozuma then smirked, remembering Max's teammates. Sure, they didn't have crushes on Mariam, but they _should_ know some vital information on their little blond friend.

_Now, that's just sad…sad and desperate._ His mind sighed.

Now that Ozuma thought of it, yeah, it was… He should at least let Mariam know that he still trusts her. Stupid Dunga. If he hadn't told Ozuma where Mariam was, Ozuma wouldn't be freaking out…

He sighed. "I'll just wait this whole thing out…" he smiled.

_Sad little boy_

Ozuma hated that voice.

Still, Mariam was acting like an idiot to get Max to be with her… if Ozuma does something there, what would that prove? That he didn't trust her to just go out to 'learn' something?

He'd make his move, when he cleared things up...

* * *

Yippee! Ow, fingers hurting… Well, that's the first bit…Ozuma's crazy and jealous (grins)

Yeah, later he'll go to the Bladebreakers and ask them some stuff on Maxie… then we bring Kai back in!

Okay, go review now please!


	7. Interrogation Session

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, don't hit me!

We're still in Ozuma's Flashback-y mode thing… and before you get any ideas…Ozuma doesn't like Kai _that_ way.

* * *

Sad little boy

_Ozuma hated that voice. _

_Still, Mariam was acting like an idiot to get Max to be with her… if Ozuma does something there, what would that prove? That he didn't trust her to just go out to 'learn' something?_

_He'd make his move, when he cleared things up…_

* * *

Ozuma shook his head, folding his arms over his chest. Oh yeah, he was nuts. But that didn't mean he could go talk to other people…other people like…Maxie's friends. A smirk fell on his face; yeah, he was crazy.

He leapt of the branch, facing away from Mariam and Max. Once he got to the street, he looked left, then right. Which way was Tyson's dojo, again? C'mon, he knew this! Ozuma slapped a hand to his forehead multiple times. Aha!

Ozuma smirked, and started walking over to his left…Tyson's place was near the Saint Shields place, right? He made his way over.

The first thing he saw was the group of them gathered around Kenny's computer, with the exception of Kai who was leaning against the wall, crossed arms and closed eyes.

"Ahem." Ozuma said, taking his hood off.

All of them looked at him. Ozuma took that time to count how many of them there were. _One…two…three…four…five, if the girl counts as one of them… one's missing. So it really was Tate with her…_

Tyson ran up to Ozuma, holding his ready launcher. "Ozuma! I'm ready for you!" Tyson grinned.

Ozuma sent him a dry look, then pushed him aside. "Not now, Granger." He pressed forward, for the others.

"Ah!" Tyson landed on one leg, flailing his arms and leg frantically. Then he resumed normal position. "Ozuma! I demand a rematch!"

Ozuma ignored him, going up to Rei, Hilary, Kenny and Kai. "Where's Tate?"

Rei lifted a brow. "Max? What would you want with him?"

"Just tell me where he is." Ozuma insisted, folding his arms.

Tyson ran over. "Oh no, you don't!" he lifted a fist, leaning into Ozuma's face, "I know what you're trying to do, Ozuma!"

"Really, and what's that?" the spiky-haired leader smirked.

Tyson backed away, flushing slightly. "Um…world…domination?"

Ozuma shook his head in shame. "I don't have time for this," again, he pushed Tyson aside.

Kai smirked.

Rei stepped forward. "Just tell us what you want with Max."

"When you tell me where he is." Ozuma insisted.

"Mm." the group exchanged looks.

Ozuma sighed, sensing that they wouldn't trust him, or believe him. "Fine, just to get this back?" he asked, holding up Dragoon.

All eyes fell on Dragoon in Ozuma's hand, then over to a flushing, worried Tyson, feeling around for it on himself.

"Er…um…gimme dat!" Tyson made a grab for it, but Ozuma shut his hand.

Ozuma shook his head. "Nu-uh."

"He went out."

"Uh?" Ozuma looked over at Kai.

The slate-haired boy opened his eyes. "I said that he went out."

_Finally, co-operation._ "Okay, where?"

Kai pushed himself off the wall. "Somewhere with some girl."

"We all suspected it was Emily, but we just didn't know." Hilary shrugged.

Ozuma sent a hard glare at the girl. "_Emily_, huh?"

"Yeah. She's on Max's mother's team." Rei explained, but the neko-jin still kept his suspicions.

Ozuma nodded, trying to hide his smirk. "And where can I find her?"

"Why?"

Ozuma sighed, holding up Dragoon again.

Kai also sighed. "She's most likely down by Max's house, probably talking to his mother."

The spiky-haired leader nodded. "Thanks…Kai."

Ozuma turned and walked out, raising his hood over his head again. While he was walking over to Max's place, he was thinking about what he just did. Ozuma didn't usually call people by their given names… he liked calling them by their surnames, perhaps just to tick them off, or show that they had no respect for the person in particular. The only people Ozuma had called by their given names were the people he trusted…and knew well. Someone to call a friend…

Friend?

Che. Ozuma barely considered Dunga that…he seemed like just…maybe someone to boss around. And Joseph…he was just…Mariam's brother. He knew that if he insulted Joseph, Mariam would possibly get upset at him, and Ozuma couldn't afford that. He couldn't afford anything that got Mariam to hate him.

So then, why did Ozuma call Kai by his given name? What was it about the Russian that made Ozuma…do that? Ozuma hadn't trusted anyone lately, and just a while ago, he had just proven that he didn't trust Mariam. But he _would_ do what Kai said and find Emily.

Ozuma beamed to himself. Yeah, if Emily was Max's girlfriend, he might be able to work things out. Yah, no more hiding in the tree and freaking out over sticks.

He stood on Max's doorstep, and knocked.

Max's mother answered. "Yes? Are you one of Maxie's little friends?"

_What!_ Ozuma hated Max at the moment, and now he'd just been connected to the blond in such an offensive way, according to Ozuma, of course. But then, Ozuma felt partially insane at the time.

"Yes, ma'am." He smiled as nicely as he could without drawing suspicion like he did with Rei, "I'm just wondering where he is and if Emily is here."

The woman tilted back. "Emily? She's downstairs with Michael and Rick, but you could see them if you want."

_Michael and Rick? _How many _other_ people would have to be in this stupid little hunt? All this…just to figure out what Mariam and Max were doing with those sticks. Well, the diner and the ice cream was a little suspicious, but Ozuma couldn't think about that now.

"Emily?" Ozuma asked into the room. The first thing he saw was a tennis racket about to hit him. He ducked down to avoid it. He didn't even know this girl! Why the hell was she throwing things at him? This girl has issues…

"Whoa! Girl, I don't even know you! What the hell are you hitting me for?" Ozuma growled, taking his hood off.

Emily put down the barrage of tennis balls she was about to bombard him with. "Oh…sorry, thought you were a thief or something."

Ozuma tilted back. Oh yeah…the hood. Well, he had remembered that when he was wandering the streets, people gave him odd looks. Yeah, the cloak shouldn't have been used when he was walking around with the civilians… it should only be used for stealth purposes. But when he did that, Max and Mariam thought he was some kind of fat, tall squirrel.

"You guys know Max Tate?" Ozuma asked, with a slight uncaring tone in his voice. He shoved one hand into his pocket; oh yeah, he still had Dragoon.

"Well, ya, we're in his house." Michael scoffed, adjusting his hat.

Ozuma looked away. _Yes, Ozuma, ask an obvious question…_ he sighed. "Y'know where he went…dude?"

Crap. Ozuma didn't know their surnames…

"Out." Michael replied, looking away.

"Yes, I could see that, Parker." Ozuma sighed. He smiled inwardly; Ozuma saw the notebook on the floor in front of him; '_Name: Michael Parker'_

"How'd you…?" Michael asked. Ozuma raised a brow, telling him to go on, "Never mind…"

Ozuma smirked. "Alright, so are you Tate's girlfriend?" he asked, nodding a head to the redheaded girl.

Emily flushed. She opened her mouth to speak, but Rick beat her to it.

"She _wishes_." He scoffed.

Ozuma nodded. "So you're not Tate's girlfriend?" Emily shook her head, still quite red. "Damn…"

"Why?" Rick asked.

The red and raven haired boy shook his head. "No, it's nothing…"

_Okay, so Tate didn't do anything wrong… and for some reason, that's bad._ Ozuma shook his head again.

"Hey, kid, what's your name?" Michael asked.

Ozuma looked up again. Oh right, he was still here with these…people. He shook his head and ran out of the room.

"Odd kid." Rick noted.

"He's Max's friend?" Emily asked.

"No, I'm not!" Ozuma called from the top of the stairs.

Ozuma sighed when he got outside of the house. "Crazy people."

"Y'know…" Ozuma looked up at the speaker, "ya could've just asked us if Emily was Max's girlfriend."

"Well, it must've slipped my mind." Ozuma looked down, kicking a rock under his shoe. _If I still had my mind that is…_

Kai chuckled at him. "Sad little boy…"

"I know! That's what I keep telling…" Ozuma stopped, looking at him. "How do you know?"

"Remember 'Over near the diner, kid'?" Kai asked, crossing his arms.

Ozuma's eyes shot up and his mouth fell slightly open. _Kai's…Kai's been watching me watching Max and Mariam…how fun…_

"Thought so." Kai smirked.

"Why were you watching me?" Ozuma demanded, storming right up to the Russian.

Kai scoffed. "Why were _you_ watching Max and Mariam?"

Ozuma tilted back. What? How could he just turn the question around like that? Ozuma was supposed to be the one asking the questions, not Kai!

"Concern."

Kai smirked. "No, jealousy."

"Same thing." Ozuma shrugged, smiling.

Kai laughed at him. Then he calmed down and became Mr. Intimidation again. "You thought Max asked Mariam out, didn't you?"

Ozuma hung his head. "Yeah," He admitted, "I didn't know if it was just like a tutoring thing or not."

Again, Kai chuckled. "Well, he _did_ ask her out, idiot."

"What! And you're just telling me this now!" Ozuma yelled, flushing brightly, "You couldn't have told me when I asked you were she went?"

"Well, I wanted to see what you'd do." He crossed his arms. "Besides, if I were you, I'd understand your concern anyways."

"Jealousy." Ozuma corrected.

Kai just looked at him. "Same thing."

"But how would you…understand?"

"I've been there." Kai stated simply, _Or I am there._

Ozuma grinned. "Nice. I never thought that you would like anyone, Kai."

"I can make it seem like nothing's happening."

Ozuma sighed. "I know! I wish I could do that."

Kai looked at him, giving him an odd look.

"Well, I do…" Ozuma said meekly.

"You were right to suspect them, though."

"Oh?" Ozuma looked over at him. Why is he telling him all of this _now_, of all times?

"Max likes Mariam." Kai said simply. Ozuma raised a brow at him. "Well, he never _told_ me he did, but it was kinda obvious."

"Like when?"

The Russian looked at the spiky-haired boy. "Oh, y'know, like Max blushes whenever Tyson's grandfather keeps saying that Mariam is Max's girlfriend."

Ozuma nodded. "I see." In his mind, Ozuma felt that he was…losing in some way. He didn't really know _what_ he was losing, but he felt that he _was_ losing something.

And he knew it wasn't his sanity, because he felt that he was already getting it back, because of Kai.

Ozuma looked up at the Russian smirking down at him.

Maybe he could…finally trust someone. But why someone like Kai? He didn't even know…

* * *

Well…Ozuma's getting happier! (That seemed fast. Blame Kai for that) Ozuma seems to be able to trust Kai now, and he still hates Max. Well, there's that Emily/Max thing in there.

And the All-Starz were in the first and third season, not the second, but I had to put them in. And Rick…he's just in there because…I put him there.

And Ozuma's thing where he takes Dragoon without Tyson's notice is similar to what Mariam did to Kai…why? Because I said so. I dunno, I just saw it in 'The Road to El Dorado'…

Alright…bye!


	8. Another Trap?

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: I don't own any shows whatsoever.

Yeah, we're still in Ozuma's flashback, but I'll try to wrap it up here.

Y'know… I just realized that I've been calling the neko-jin blader 'Rei' instead of 'Ray' … crap… boy, I'm an idiot…

Do I update too fast? 'Cause I'm not sure if I'm letting you guys let what happened sink in... just wondering. :)

Chp. 9 is done, but I'm gonna wait a bit before I put it up. So please review!

_

* * *

Ozuma nodded. "I see." In his mind, Ozuma felt that he was…losing in some way. He didn't really know what he was losing, but he felt that he was losing something. _

_And he knew it wasn't his sanity, because he felt that he was already getting it back, because of Kai._

_Ozuma looked up at the Russian smirking down at him. _

_Maybe he could…finally trust someone. But why someone like Kai? He didn't even know…_

* * *

Ozuma and Kai stood there for a while. 

Kai, of all people, why'd he have to be the one to open Ozuma up and make him feel like…he wasn't crazy, and that everything'd be alright? Ozuma hit himself in his mind.

"C'mon!" Kai yelled suddenly, bringing Ozuma back to his senses. The emerald-eyed boy looked startled. He hung his head and closed his eyes.

None of this was happening… Ozuma so wanted that to be true. It wouldn't affect him; it'd just flow right past him. No matter what happened. Whether Mariam still liked him or not, he couldn't let it affect him, he couldn't let it hurt him.

"Wh---" Ozuma started at Kai.

The slate-haired boy shook his head. "There's no time to waste asking why, Ozuma." He replied plainly, "Just come on."

Ozuma felt he had no choice, and ran alongside Kai, to wherever Kai was leading him to. _Where the hell…?_ Ozuma asked, and then gaped when Kai stopped. _Back to the park?_

"If this is what's bothering you, you have to let it go." Kai explained, nodding a head to Max and Mariam.

Let go…of Mariam? But…she was his pride. And he had to let it go?

"Why?" he whispered.

Again, he closed his eyes, thinking of what Kai meant about Mariam. She was always there…so what? And he fell into her eyes.

Ever since then…she had been 'his', but he didn't like the possessive stuff. Why didn't Mariam say anything? Why didn't she say anything about Max?

He opened his eyes and looked at them. He felt he didn't need to figure this out anymore…he didn't want to look back anymore.

Kai seemed shocked when Ozuma just went up to them. He saw Mariam's eyes widen in shock, and her mouth fall open a bit. She looked pale when Ozuma left them. Max was just looking at her.

He did it… Kai concluded. Ozuma went back to Kai, and then put something in his hand before walking off without a word.

Kai opened his hand. "Dragoon…"

_End of Flashback_

* * *

Joseph stared at Ozuma who had the slightest hint of tears lingering in his eyes. 

"Ozuma…?" the boy asked softly.

Ozuma shook his head and looked down. "I don't expect you to change what happened, Joseph. It was the only thing to do…"

"Ozuma…" Joseph said gingerly.

"Please…" Ozuma begged lightly, "Just…get out of my room."

Joseph was in awe of how Ozuma was acting. But he nodded; mouth opened a bit, and walked out, closing the door lightly.

His sister crushed him…and she didn't even know it.

* * *

Kai closed his eyes, folding his arms over his chest. Mariam just looked at him. 

"You all right?" she asked him. Kai said nothing. "C'mon, Kai, don't act like this just because I took Dranzer." She smirked. Still no response. "Kai, don't be a little child."

Kai turned his head away from her. He had helped Ozuma for the wrong reason, and now he had to deal with the girl.

"Don't call me that again." He warned sharply, then walked off, putting his hands back down by his sides.

Mariam looked at his departing figure. Why the sudden turn-around in attitude? What did she do? They were just joking around just a minute ago, now he was talking to her like she was his born enemy, despite her having done nothing wrong. Why did she feel…hurt…that he did that?

She couldn't afford to fall into another trap again, like what happened with Ozuma. She shook her head. Not another trap…not again.

Mariam felt part of her feeling sorry for Kai, like wanting to give Dranzer back so he didn't hurt anymore. That wouldn't be enough anyways… And that would mean that she gave in to him…that she had a soft side… It wasn't right! Why'd he have to make her feel like this?

Mariam was about to go up to Kai, to apologize for whatever she did… that is, until Max stepped in front of her.

"Max? What do you want?"

"Oh…nothing…I was just wondering…" Max started, rubbing the back of his neck uneasily.

* * *

Kai glanced back over to her; Max was talking to her. Was this stupid thing going to happen all over again? 

Kai shook his head. It couldn't…he promised he wouldn't let it. He promised Dunga. And as much as Kai wanted to disregard the man, he couldn't. Dunga said he'd crush Dranzer if he didn't. Oh! But Kai didn't have Dranzer anymore, so there's nothing to break.

Oh yeah, he was so smart. Kai smirked. Then he glanced back at the cerulean-haired girl. Wouldn't it hurt her all over again? Normally, he wouldn't care what happened to her, but now…something was different. And it wasn't because she had Dranzer… It was something else altogether.

He imagined what would happen if he _did_ let it happen all over again. She would be hurt, but no tears would come out; he knew she was stronger than that. But he imagined her falling on her knees, then sitting on her knees, hanging her head and covering her face with her hand to hide what she really felt. And Kai was standing a few good feet in front of her. He was staring at her, and the look in his eyes projected sadness, but the look on his face projected concern…deep concern that he'd hurt her.

But why did he care?

He wouldn't let it happen again...not because of Dunga, but because of Mariam.

What did she do to him to suddenly make him care about what happened to her? He didn't want to hurt her… not anymore…

* * *

Mariam flushed. "Oh…um…" she glanced at Kai who was now hanging his head, "I can't…sorry. Maybe next time." She smiled, although it felt forced, even to her. 

Max just stared at her. "Oh…well…okay. I guess…I'll… see ya 'round?" he asked solemnly.

"Yeah." Mariam nodded, watching Max walk off.

* * *

Tyson still had to confront Hilary. Stupid Max and his stupid bet. This wouldn't work; everyone saw that Hilary liked Kai, so what was the freaking point? 

Hilary was staring at Kai staring at Mariam. Tyson sighed, blowing some hair from his face.

"Oy...this isn't gonna end well." Tyson let out a deep breath, walking over to Hilary.

"Tyson!" the blue-haired boy looked over to the side, seeing Joseph running towards him. He stopped a few meters from Tyson, his arms open by his sides.

"Where is my sister?" Joseph demanded.

Tyson looked over. "Over..." he pointed a finger to where he saw Mariam, staring at both Dranzer and Sharkrash, "...there."

* * *

Joseph ran right up to his sister. "What is _wrong_ with you?" he spat at her. 

"What are you talking about, Joseph?" Mariam put her hands on her hips.

"What you did to Ozuma!" he retorted.

Mariam looked away.

"How do you explain that, huh!" Joseph shouted at her.

The violet-haired girl looked back at her fuming brother. "Joseph, you have to understand--"

"No!" Joseph yelled back at her, "Ozuma told me the whole thing; I understand it perfectly." he crossed her arms and faced away. His eyes fell shut, to hopefully block out his sister.

Mariam clasped her hands behind her. "I bet you don't know _why_ I agreed to go out with Max, do you?"

"Because you liked him, and just pushed away Ozuma." Joseph stated angrily.

Mariam smiled lightly, and then crouched down to Joseph's eye level. "Not quite."

Joseph's eyes widened. "Then what?"

She let out a sigh. "Truthfully," she tried holding onto her smile, but failed, "I pitied him."

The olive-haired boy faced her. "You what?"

"I pitied him," she repeated.

Joseph looked at her with suspicion. "I don't believe you."

* * *

Kai was still looking at the emerald-eyed girl. It was his fault Ozuma hated her now, and Kai knew it. So then why was Kai so mad at Ozuma before? Was he mad at Ozuma because of something that he, himself, did? Ozuma let her go, just like that… The crimson and raven haired boy seemed to want nothing to do with her. 

The slate-haired boy folded his arms over his chest, staring at the girl talking to her brother. Why did he suddenly…care? He recalled feeling like this before…with Hilary, if he remembered correctly. Then it seemed kind of apparent that she was quite fond of Tyson, so Kai just…moved right along.

And now there was this thing with Mariam? Why did he let himself fall into another trap again? He wished he could feel like crap for allowing himself to be taken like this, but he couldn't bring himself to. It was Mariam…

NO!

Kai clenched a fist by his side. Love was a weakness. And he couldn't afford to be weak. That's what happened to Tyson…Kai assumed. That moron had his little infatuation with Hilary and that proved as his weakness.

And Max…he ditched the team to go out with Mariam. Instead of practicing to become stronger, he spent his time with Mariam, proving his weakness.

Then there was Rei… Kai was certain that the neko-jin had a liking toward the Team Psychic girl, Salima. But then there was that issue with Mariah that threw Kai off.

But that wasn't the importance right now.

Kai was arguing with himself over…feelings.

Tala would've never have fallen into such a stupid situation. So why did Kai?

* * *

Mariam just shook her head. "Why don't you believe me, huh, Joseph?" 

"Because you… Ozuma told me how you were acting around Tate!" the boy replied, firmly throwing his arms by his sides, and stomping a foot to the ground.

Mariam tilted aback and mumbled something under her breath.

Joseph raised a confused brow at her. "So, were you acting dumb for Tate, or were you serious?" he crossed his arms, his eyes were hinting at something…

Mariam shut her eyes tight, and then glared knives at her brother. "All right!" she said under pressure, "I was acting dumb, but I was using Max…"

"To do what, may I ask, _dear sister_?" Joseph hissed.

She turned her head away. "To get to…" she paused for a moment, thinking about what she was trying to say, "someone…"

Joseph glared on. "To get to, whom?"

Mariam opened her mouth to speak, but she suddenly closed it, as if saying 'never mind' in a hard way. "Forget it."

"Y'know, I'm never gonna stop until you tell me who." The boy said stubbornly.

Mariam growled at him.

* * *

Max sunk into a chair inside the dojo. 

Tyson's grandfather came in, and then glanced at the blond. "Yo, little man, what's up?"

Max looked up at the man. "Nothing much, gramps."

Said gramps grinned. "Oh, you can tell me, dude."

The blond shook his head. "Nah…"

"I swear, you kids today are so stubborn…" Mr. Granger crossed his arms.

"Fine…" Max sighed in annoyance, blowing his gold hair strand from his forehead. "It's about Mariam."

"_Ohh_!" the man exclaimed, and a few seconds later came "wait, who's that?"

Max rolled his eyes. "Y'know, the girl…" no response from the man, "the one with green eyes…" still no response, "and the blue-ish hair?"

"_Ohh!_ Okay." He grinned, holding a thumbs-up, "what happened?"

Max turned his head away, so that the elderly man couldn't sense anything by the hints in the blond's eyes.

"Ya got rejected, didn't you, boy?" the man assumed.

The movement that Max gave signals that 'Gramps' has assumed correctly.

"Poor little dude…rejected by your own girlfriend…"

Swiftly, Max stood up and glared at the aged man. After a few seconds of that, he stormed out.

Mr. Granger scratched his head. "Wonder what's eating him…"

* * *

Tyson took another deep inhale, then walked over to Kenny, Hilary and Rei. 

"Um…Hilary, can I talk to you?" the midnight-blue haired boy asked.

The brunette looked over at the neko-jin and the 'chief' who were nodding, smiling cheekily.

"All right." She nodded and went off with him.

The voices of Rei and Kenny were heard, singing some weird happy tune.

Tyson sent them a hard glare while Hilary just looked utterly lost.

"Morons…" Tyson muttered quietly and harshly.

Hilary just giggled a bit. "Never mind them…what did you want?"

* * *

"Joseph, I swear, if you breathe a word about that, I promise you that I will hang you by your ankles to the ceiling." Mariam warned coldly. 

Joseph merely waved a hand up and down at her. "Don't worry, Mar, I won't tell anyone that you _like Kai_."

Mariam blew out an annoyed breath dryly. "You _are so_ asking for it, Joey."

"Don't call me that!" Joseph snapped.

"And I do not like Kai!" Mariam screeched.

"You're kinda late there, Mar, and you just admitted it five seconds ago." The olive eyed-boy said smugly, smirking.

Mariam shook her head furiously. "Joseph, I swear…" she began.

Joseph backed off. His sister had a temper, and he knew it. Besides, she had smeared mousse all over his face one time when he made fun of her hair. And that was just for that petty thing. Anything worse and Joseph would find himself hurting. "Okay, okay." He smiled. "But why didn't you tell me before?"

"Uh?" Mariam just stared on at him with interest of his words.

Joseph grinned. "Why didn't you say anything earlier? I could've had so much fun setting you up."

"In your dreams, kiddo…" Mariam crossed her arms, refusing to look at her brother, "Besides, he hates my guts, and I don't _like him like him_, I just…like him."

"Then why do you have this?" with a swift movement, Joseph took Dranzer out of Mariam's pocket.

Mariam's jaw fell open slightly, and her face turned a bit pale. She seemed to be stuttering out 'uh' over and over again. "Fine, I'll give it back to him, just to prove you wrong, Joe." She snatched the blue blade from her brother, then went over to Kai, who was standing on the top of the small hill.

"Kai!" she called, walking over to him, holding the phoenix in her hand.

"…no, Tala, I don't want to…" Kai said. Mariam then realized that he was talking into his cell phone, "…I have no choice, moron. …Yeah, I did, but you never did!"

Mariam felt herself turning pale. _T-Tala? I-Isn't that a girl's name? K-Kai is going out with some girl named Tala? And I fell in love with him?_ Mariam snapped out of it, shaking her head furiously, like a dog shaking water off its head.

She felt so stupid.

She fell in love with him.

But then again, she noticed that a lot of girls did.

But why did _she_?

She was stronger than the other girls. She didn't fall in love easily, and it just had to be _him_, didn't it?

She wished she could melt into the ground and disappear forever, but that couldn't be.

Mariam dropped Dranzer in the grass, then solemnly turned around and walked away.

Right now, she'd do _anything_ to get away from him.

Just as long as she didn't have to face Kai Hiwatari again.

The elders were right… 'There's no point in loving someone, because you'll just get hurt'

She'd run away from him, as far as she could. She didn't care what happened; she just ran… that is, until she bumped into someone.

"Ow, sorry…" Mariam said, rubbing her head.

"Hm?" they replied, looking at her.

The lilac-haired girl looked at who she bumped into. "Ozuma!"

* * *

Yeah, I know, this chapter's crap… please don't hit me. But really, I don't know why I ended Ozuma's flashback thing so abruptly… 

Um…Mariam doesn't know who Tala is because the two were never in the same season, so there.

And really, does Rei like Salima or Mariah? Because I have no skulking clue. The show seemed confusing to me… There's Tyson/Hilary hints in the show, along with Kai/Hilary, Rei/Salima, Rei/Mariah, Max/Mariam, Max/Emily and all these other pairings…

And I'm not really good with the whole…'emotions' thing…

Okay, please review! Bye! (Why do I always say 'bye'? What's wrong with me?)


	9. Hate With A Passion

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: I have no idea what I own, but it's definitely not Beyblade.

Chp. 10 and 11 are done, people, so...um...read and review so I can put them up!

And the chapter title...um, my guy friend says that a lot about his friend's dog. "I hate that dog...hate him with a passion." okay? Good.

_

* * *

She'd run away from him, as far as she could. She didn't care what happened; she just ran… that is, until she bumped into someone. _

"_Ow, sorry…" Mariam said, rubbing her head. _

"_Hm?" they replied, looking at her. _

_The lilac-haired girl looked at who she bumped into. "Ozuma!"_

* * *

Mariam had no idea what she was supposed to do, let alone think. She just bumped into Ozuma…who now seemed to hate her… 'hate her with a passion' as Dunga had said before. What was she supposed to say to him? She knew Ozuma was hurt, but Mariam was just doing what she thought was right at the time. And in his hurt and anger, he hated her, hated her with such a passion right now that he would be easily persuaded to kill her on the spot. 

Before, he was just saddened that she did that to him, now he was so angry at her that he'd do _anything_ to be rid of her. But it wasn't his fault… The last time they talked about it, Ozuma ended up leaving her at the pond on her own.

_Flashback_

"_Stupid rich, conceded little asshole!" Mariam yelled, picking up and rock and skipping it along the pond. _

"_I take it that you don't like being kicked off the team?" Ozuma asked, walking up from behind her._

"_Ozuma!" Mariam exclaimed in a shocked tone, turning her head to see him. She quickly turned her head back around, away from him. "What do you want?"_

"_I just," he began, peering over to see her face, "wanted to see if you were alright."_

"_What does it matter to you?" her voice sounded exasperated. _

"_I'm your friend." Ozuma hated saying those words. _

_Mariam scoffed silently. "And as my friend, you've got to let me do this…on my own."_

"_But---!"_

"_Don't even, Ozuma." Mariam warned. _

"_Mariam, if you'll just---"_

_She whipped around to face him. "Ozuma, that was years ago…it was a mistake and I'm sorry for it. I tried to tell you but…I didn't wanna hurt you then, okay?"_

"_It was only two months ago." Her former leader said flatly. _

"_Same thing!" Mariam grunted, annoyed. "It doesn't matter anymore."_

"_For you, maybe. But it's still there for me." Ozuma sighed, turning away._

_Mariam stared at her reflection for a while before breaking the silence again. "Ozuma, I…" she turned around, finding the red and black hair-colored boy was gone. "Never mind."_

_End of Flashback_

Mariam shook her head. Why did she let herself get fooled by him? He was obviously hurting and she just disregarded it as nothing. This is the trap that Mariam fell in with Ozuma, and she didn't want to fall into another one, especially not with Kai.

The two remained silent, staring at each other as innocent passing people walked around them. There was something they wanted to say to the other, but the words couldn't form, or it wouldn't come out correctly. The two were so silent that you wouldn't be able to tell that they were breathing.

Both pairs of emerald eyes were glaring hard, with an intention of killing the other, as if glares could kill. After a while, Mariam's softened to a sympathetic look.

"Ozuma…" she said in a tone that was pleading for something, but at the same time, it was soft… as though, if she were to say his name louder, he would run away like a deer at night being caught by headlights on a passing car. Ozuma gave her a look that told her to continue with what she was saying.

"You were my best friend…" she sounded like she was saying a eulogy. Her eyes pleaded with his for a while, as if asking him to forgive him. All she did was…follow her gut feeling. Her jade eyes had no affect on the Saint Shields leader. Now, they quivered in some kind of imploring sadness that seemed to have an effect on him; like her, his glare softened to a considerate look.

"And I can't live in a world where we must fight like this…" she continued gently. Ozuma used to mean so much to her, although she was sure he didn't know it. He was the only person she could talk to about…anything, the only reason why she didn't go mad, the only person who understood that there was so much more to her than a pretty face and a spunky attitude…the only person who knew who she really was.

"If you really hate me, then go ahead…do what you will."

Ozuma's expression softened even further, down to one of just… either pure pity or just pure concern. "Mariam…" like her, he said her name softly, as if she would run away if he used a tone even the slightest bit higher.

Mariam raised a light eyebrow curiously. What more was there to say? What did he have left that he could say to her? Was he just saying her name just for the heck of it? Or saying it because he pitied her little line she said earlier? Because he just wanted her to feel…better? Not like the idiot that she already did feel like.

"Mariam!"

The girl turned around, seeing the infamous Hiwatari boy walking over to her, briskly making his way through the heavy crowd.

Mariam bit her lip, then faced Ozuma again. She nodded silently, for she felt there were no words left to say, urging him to continue.

Ozuma didn't respond with words; he kept a softened glare focused on her, until the efficient steps of Kai Hiwatari got over behind Mariam.

The slate-haired Russian placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "Mariam." He said gently, to get her attention. Still, her eyes remained on the red and raven hair-colored leader. So…what was she supposed to be feeling right now?

"Mariam, I have to talk to you." Kai said softly, but urgently. His grip on her shoulder tightened.

Mariam placed a gentle hand on the one on her shoulder, as if telling it to calm down. His grip loosened slightly. "Kai, just hold on…" she said without looking away from Ozuma. Again, she nodded toward the Saint Shield leader.

Ozuma shoved his hands in his pockets, immediately projecting 'forget about it'. He slumped his back and shrugged. "I have nothing to say…" he nodded a head to the impatient Russian, "Go…" he stared at her for a while. She didn't do anything but keep the stare right on him, "Go off with Kai, now, Mariam."

"Ozuma…" Mariam said in a voice that seemed slightly pleading, perhaps pleading him to stay. To do what? Just stand around staring at each other without breathing a word to each other? It seemed rather pointless, but Mariam seemed saddened as she watched him back away into the crowd of passing people.

"Mariam." Kai said again, lightly tugging on her shoulder. What did _he_ want with her? He had Tala. So then why was Kai treating her like…

…someone he was flirting with?

She turned around to face him. "Yeah, Kai?" she said gently.

A smirk hung all over Kai's lips. But it seemed shrewd and sly. What was he planning? "C'mon." he took a hold on her hand with his, pulling her through the crowd, in the direction opposing the one that Ozuma disappeared in.

He took her in some small deserted corner. Perhaps to talk… Mariam was relieved when she remembered that Kai wouldn't harass her…or mug her. Che. Rape her? Where'd she think that up? He most certainly wouldn't rape her.

"Mariam…" Kai began, pulling his hand into his pocket. He withdrew his hand, with Mariam watching it carefully, "Why'd you give this back?"

Mariam was confused at what he was saying for a moment, and only a moment before Kai fully withdrew his hand from his pocket, revealing the cobalt beyblade that she had swiped from him earlier.

"Oh…" Mariam sighed softly, looking away from him. Kai noticed her eyes quivering in some kind of fear. Fear of getting hurt perhaps? He wouldn't hurt her, but she didn't know that. She thought he was some stupid conceited asshole who cared about nothing but himself. Kai wished he could still be that sometimes…and he had to change, because of her, "that…"

Was it him, or did she sound dejected? Truthfully, Kai was the one dejected; the fact that she used Dranzer to annoy him was his excuse to fight with her. Without it in her possession, he couldn't do anything but stare.

"Well?" Kai asked, putting the sapphire blade in his jacket pocket.

Mariam refused to look at him; she was gonna give it back to him, to prove to Joseph that she wasn't some fan-girl who'd worship an item of his. She heard him talking to Tala and she figured that she dropped it. "I was gonna give it back to you…" she said, staring at a dumpster a few feet away.

"So why did you leave in the grass? Why didn't you hand it to me personally?" Kai's voice seemed slightly demanding.

Mariam was still staring at the dumpster, not wanting to answer his questions. Ooh, was that a pizza box? She would've hit herself on the head, for seeming so fascinated by a pizza box in the dumpster. Well, she liked food... but she wasn't hungry. Was she just staring at the pizza box to avoid Kai's penetrating eyes?But the thing that she didn't understand was why Kai took her into his small, deserted, secluded corner to ask her about Dranzer. Maybe he wanted something…more.

Should she tell him the truth? Would he understand? "I heard you talking to someone named Tala…" she said, her eyes wandering the ground. Oh, cool, the cracks made a happy face.

Mariam then felt his maroon/violet eyes scanning her own jade ones. For what reason? Was he so determined to discover why she just left the azure beyblade in the grass like that without a word? Why did he care?

"What about Tala?" Kai asked when he figured she wouldn't say anything more.

Mariam closed her eyes tight, as if something pained her so much, she didn't want to see anymore. "You were talking to her like she wanted you to do something…"

Kai let out a stifled laugh. "You think that Tala's a girl?"

Shit.

Mariam finally looked up at him.

Shit was right. If Tala was a guy, then Kai could be gay for all she knew. Damn…why'd she have to fall in love with a gay guy who liked a guy with a girl's name? She'd never live this down. If she just stayed with Max, this never would've happened. But that would be living a lie, wouldn't it? She didn't really like Max…he was just there to catch her if she ever got rejected.

He could sure come in handy right now…

But that blond American boy was never there when she needed him, was he?

Highly doubtful.

Finally, Mariam nodded.

If Kai were someone else, like Tyson perhaps, then he would've burst out laughing, rolling on the floor in fits of laughter, unable to control himself…stuff like that. But he was Kai, Kai Hiwatari, and he wasn't like that. Instead, he smirked. What the hell was he doing? Was he trying to seduce someone like that? Moron…

Mariam tried so hard to send him a hard glare, and failed. "Okay, I get it; Tala's a guy."

"And you thought…what? That I was going out with him or something?" Kai did that smirk again, folding his arms and standing dominantly over her. Curse his height!

Mariam tilted her head to the side. "Get out of my head, man…"

Kai just chuckled at her, a mean chuckle that was making fun of her. She wasn't _that_ dumb! Why did he always make her feel like this? But even still, no matter what he did, she was still separated from the Saint Shields, separated from Ozuma. And the only thing she could to was sling insults at the world, perhaps to take her anger out without actually hitting someone. Joseph's been through that enough times…she couldn't keep hitting him. So she insulted everyone. But why'd Kai have to be…so much better at this than she was? He already owned her in beyblading, why'd he have to rule the rebellious department too?

"Because you let me, remember?" Kai smirked. Mariam looked shocked, then transferred her gaze up at him. Did he read her mind or something? That was impossible… Kai Hiwatari was human…and like humans, he shouldn't be able to read minds. Unless they taught psychic mind-reading at the Abbey when he was there. That would've been awkward. The guy in charge must've been a retard.

"He is." The slate-haired Russian smirked.

"Seriously, do you like, read my mind or something?" Mariam asked out of annoyance, putting her hands on her hips.

Kai glanced over and observed her. He smirked. Well, the fact that she put her hands on her hips made it easier for Kai to see her, as her hands pushed down on the otherwise lose fabric of her Saint Shields uniform, allowing Kai to clearly see the outline of her curves. She wasn't as scrawny as Hilary was, and Kai was grateful. And on the other hand, she wasn't as thick as…whoever was, which Kai was also grateful for. She seemed to be like the happy medium.

"Not at all." Kai replied finally, resuming eye contact with her, "your eyes and expression are just so simple to read."

"Are you calling me simple-minded?" Mariam asked, obviously ticked off. Mariam was so close to hitting something at this point. All she could think of was 'Damn him!' and how she was gonna get him one of these days.

Kai gave her a dry look. "No, Mariam, I'm calling you naïve." He said, his voice as dry as his expression. Why did Kai fall for her again? He had no stinking clue, but he did like her… but in a way, he felt like he was trying to push the thought of Ozuma out of her head. He knew she wouldn't be able to trust him like she trusted Ozuma, and she wouldn't be able to talk to him like she talked to Ozuma. Why was he comparing himself with Ozuma anyways?

His gut told him to.

"That's the same thing, dumbass." Mariam retorted, crossing her arms. Seriously, did he think she didn't know what the definitions of some words meant? She could've hit him for that if she didn't like him… She remembered the same thing happening with Ozuma, before.

"Aw, you're catching on." Kai rolled his eyes at her, scoffing. If he were talking to someone else, he would've ended this conversation a long time ago. But it was Mariam… He remembered doing the same thing with Hilary, before. He could've sworn that she dyed her hair brown…most of the time, she was completely clueless to what he was talking about. Why was Mariam different?

"Spare me your sarcasm, Kai." Mariam sighed, looking around, "All right, you know why I left your Dranzer in the grass, can I go now?" she sighed. Why did she want to get away from him all of a sudden? Perhaps she felt…intruding.

Kai stared at her for the longest while, saying nothing, much like what Mariam and Ozuma did earlier. Mariam could've sworn that he was moving closer with every passing second. And then Mariam found that he _was_ moving closer, with the intention of maybe…kissing her?

Mariam almost slapped herself; Kai Hiwatari was not known for going around kissing people, let alone showing his feelings.

But something in her gut told her not to move, that he'd make sure everything would be okay. Her eyelids seemed to be fluttering in possible fear before they covered her eyes halfway. She was expecting him to…

…_kiss me._ She finished in her head.

Why was he doing his? Joseph probably told him…that jerk. And now he probably pitied her. Enough to kiss her? Unlikely.

Mariam was arguing with herself, whether to move away or let him do whatever.

He leaned closer.

* * *

Well, this chapter also sucked monkeys… I'll probably leave this for now (at least until I get more reviews) and even though I don't know what I'm doing (because I think the summary doesn't fit now) I'm having fun (: 

And that thing that Mariam says is from Teen Titans...kinda. Where Starfire says to Robin "Robin, you are my best friend. I cannot live in a world where we must fight. If you are truly evil, then go ahead...do what you must..." and I liked it, so I put it in.

I think the summary needs to be changed, and thanks to the reviewers! You rock!

Bye byes!


	10. Barely a Kiss, Barely Kai Hiwatari

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

Disclaimer: I have no idea what I own, but it's definitely not Beyblade.

Sorry for the wait... even though it wasn't _that _long...but yesterday was my last day of school and I'm going to this long party tomorrow, so I thought 'might as well do the tenth chap today...'

_

* * *

Why was he doing his? Joseph probably told him…that jerk. And now he probably pitied her. Enough to kiss her? Unlikely. _

_Mariam was arguing with herself, whether to move away or let him do whatever._

_He leaned closer. _

* * *

"K-Kai?" Mariam managed to utter out softly. She noticed that his eyes were also half-lidded. But… maybe this wasn't the real Kai Hiwatari! Kai Hiwatari did not do love and he most certainly did not do kissing…especially with a girl whose guts he hated. Nothing in the universe could possess the infamous Kai Hiwatari to do this, not with her, never with her… He hated her…just like everyone else in her life. 

Except Joseph, of course.

And maybe Max. Max was nice…but Mariam wouldn't stoop so low as to forcing herself to like someone, just because Kai didn't like her and Max did. She _did_ turn Max down for Kai, though… Now that she thought about it, she could've used Max to make Kai jealous.

Kai? Jealous?

Not possible.

Mariam would've shook her head furiously, if Kai hadn't placed a hand on her cheek… This was _so_ not Kai Hiwatari… Something bad must've happened to the real Kai. Would Mariam even consider trying to save him? Maybe it was that retarded Abbey leader…or Tala, who captured the real Kai.

She backed into the wall, telling Kai that she didn't want him to pity her enough to kiss her. Crap it all…she just allowed herself to be surrounded by him. Her knees were feeling weak, from standing around all day, especially after all the standing and staring she did with Ozuma.

Mariam knew she liked Kai, and if anyone but Joseph said she did, she'd deny it completely. But Mariam wouldn't even expect Kai to like anyone, let alone her. He didn't seem like the type… Although he had…'fan-girls', he never showed any emotion toward them except giving them the cold shoulder and a simple 'Hn' but that was it.

"Hn?" Kai answered, his face looming over hers. Although Mariam despised his guts, he couldn't help but…be a guy. Well, most guys have feelings for girls and they don't know how to express them, so they insult the girl.

Idiots.

Kai sneered. They're idiots to not realize what they feel. Kai realized his…late, but still. That's why he stalked Ozuma stalking Max and Mariam. He, like Ozuma, wanted to make sure that she was alright. But he was Kai Hiwatari…mostly known for being the strong, cold, heartless bastard who never showed any emotions but pure hate. So he couldn't have Tyson and the others knowing. He was sure they'd coo at him and laugh, probably. Hilary would probably turn pale and not be able to move; her infatuation with the Russian blader was apparent, even to him.

"W-What are you doing?" Mariam asked, her voice quivering. She didn't want Kai to think that she was scared again; he'd make fun of her again.

Mariam gulped lightly when she felt a warm hand on her waist. A light tint of scarlet fell on her cheeks. Was he actually going to do it? Did he really…have emotions other than pure hate? She could only wonder. She couldn't move...

Her hands pressed against the cold wall behind her. She should be hitting him! Did she lose her mind? Why did part of her _want_ this to happen?

Kai made no reply. She knew full well what he was doing. Maybe she just asked to see if she was correct. Well, what _else_ would he be doing, drawing a picture?

Foolish girl.

Kai's eyelids felt heavy, closing down all the way. Mariam followed his example. Only a mere two seconds passed before he lightly brushed his lips on hers.

Mariam gasped inside; what was she supposed to be feeling now?

"Mariam?"

* * *

(A/N: Do you _know_ how much I _wanted_ to leave it there, just to for the heck of it all? ...but I decided to be nice and continue... also because the above is only like, 2 pages and my minimum is 6 pages)

* * *

Kai cursed in his head and backed off, looking at the source of the sound as his eyes opened. "Max?" he asked gently. Now everything'd be weird. Max wouldn't get mad…he didn't _really_ kiss her… it was just a slight brush against her lips…that's all. 

Mariam opened her eyes, looking in the direction that Kai was. "Max…" she said, just as gently as Kai did.

The blond American boy was staring at them, possibly because he was looking for Mariam because of what Mr. Granger said. And _this_ is what he found? He couldn't take this… Maybe…Rei was right. The American shook his head furiously, looking downward at the ground below him, shutting his eyes tight.

None of them spoke for a long while. Mariam didn't know what she was supposed to say to Max. How was she supposed to deal with another person hating her because she liked Kai? One was too many, and now there was two? Mariam just stood there, staring at the blond.

Kai resumed his usual trademark position; arms folded over his chest, head hung with eyes closed gently. It happened again, didn't it? First Ozuma, now Max… and Kai didn't even know if it was his fault or not. He wanted to take the blame for Mariam, so she wouldn't hurt anymore. But wouldn't that just prove that he _did_ like Mariam and was protecting her? He couldn't do anything now…Max found him out.

Max's head was hurting, trying to figure out what he just saw. What was he supposed to do?

Nothing?

Max didn't believe that. He had to do something. Ten bucks was nothing compared to what he was feeling right now. The bet with Tyson didn't matter. Did that 'date' with the diner and ice cream mean nothing to her?

Apparently so.

What were any of them supposed to say? But Kai found that Max had very little reason to get mad. It wasn't like Mariam was Max's girlfriend, despite the constant remarks from the grandfather of Mr. World Champ.

But Max _did_ like Mariam, the whole world knew it, and Kai just came out of nowhere to take her away from him. Was Kai supposed to feel bad? Was Mariam? Max felt hurt, that was certain.

Kai shook his head. It was just some stupid chain…Emily liked Max who liked Mariam who was liked by Ozuma who was friends with Kai who fell for Mariam who liked Kai who was on Max's team who was liked by Emily who was interrogated by Ozuma about Max who hates Kai who made Ozuma break up with Mariam who pitied Max who was stalked by Ozuma who now hates Mariam.

Oh boy, that hurt…

Kai lifted his head and opened his eyes. The blond seemed to be arguing with himself inside. It was nothing; barely even a kiss, so why get mad? Kai always figured himself superior to the other human boys…

Conceited.

Yep, that was Kai, all right.

But Max…was he naturally protective like this?

Finally, after yet another session of just staring, Mariam seemed to speak up. "Max!" she shouted at the blond. Her voice was filled with a slight concern or begging, that he wouldn't hate her like Ozuma did.

The blond lifted his head and stared at them for only a moment before his eyes flashed in anger. He shook his head fiercely then turned to run away. She wasn't supposed to see him act like this…nobody was.

Mariam took a step forward. "Max, wait!" she held out a hand, to stop him, but it made no difference; the American ran away anyways.

Why did Mariam suddenly feel so guilty for all this? She glanced to her side. Uh, Kai was at fault too! Yeah…

But it was _Mariam_ who knew Max's infatuation with her first.

It was _Mariam_ who turned him down for someone else.

It was _Mariam_ who never considered Max's feelings.

It was _Mariam_ who fell for Kai…

And it was _Mariam_ who almost let Kai kiss her.

Mariam hung her head; it was her fault…

"…Mariam!" Kai shouted.

The girl's attention went back to the Russian. "Yeah?"

Kai looked around suspiciously, like they were being watched. And he knew that very well, didn't he? "C'mon…it's getting late. Ozuma wouldn't want you getting lost."

"Ozuma wouldn't care." Mariam replied quickly without hesitation. Well, it was _true…_he wouldn't. Not anymore. He hated her. He hated her guts. He hated her with a passion. He hated her guts with a passion.

"But Joseph would, wouldn't he?" Kai replied, raising a brow at her. He got no response from her. Was she too afraid to admit that her brother was the only one who cared for her now that Max saw…_that_? Was he too afraid to prove her wrong?

"So he would…" Mariam admitted after a while. Everyone hated her, because she was just being who she was. How was that such a crime? "he's the only one left, isn't he?"

Kai tilted his head to the side. "Perhaps…maybe it's just the way you see it," he shifted around uneasily, "and if it means anything," _which I'm assuming it won't, _"I would."

Mariam's eyes fluttered in confusion, looking right at him, "Kai…" she said gently, in a voice that might as well have been a whisper.

"Hn?"

"Thanks…" she said in a caring voice. The look on her face said that she meant it. Kai was about to smile warmly, were it not for what happened next.

Mariam's expression dropped back to normal. "But stay off my side." She warned icily.

"Wha?" he asked, tilting aback.

"I mean it, Kai; stay off my side. I don't need you to pity me enough to make me think that you actually like me." Mariam shook her head, and then looked away from him. Why was she saying this?

Kai just glared at her. "Mariam, you don't get it, do you?"

"No, I don't!" she said confidently, "But I can only guess! And the closest assumption is that you pity me. I don't need your pity or your false sympathy, Kai Hiwatari. Don't even think about trying to use the sympathy act on me, just to get me to start letting people in again. If I was ever gonna start letting people in, why would I start with _you_?" she spat.

Kai tilted aback. Mariam looked quite confident in what she was saying, but Kai could see that she didn't really mean it.

What was Mariam saying? Was she saying all this because she was too stubborn to admit that she had feelings for him? But Mariam realized that Kai was only trying to help her because he had been there before. He knew that world better than she did, and yet she was insisting on traveling it alone.

She knew that Kai was smart, and most likely, he'd see through her little 'phase' again, just like he always did. Kai was smirking…was that a good thing? Was he smirking because Mariam was reverting back to her old self?

But the whole point in Kai helping her was so that she wouldn't go back. Besides, what was she to do, being separated from the Saint Shields? Did Kai pity her enough to let her stay with him?

Not likely.

But right now, Kai was the closest thing Mariam had to a…friend. Everyone else just left her, because of what she was.

_Stereotypes…_

She muttered in her head.

"The fact that I'm the _only _one willing to be on your side." Kai answered.

"But why? Why would you want to help someone who's so much trouble?" Mariam asked him. It didn't seem like much of a question, more like a demand.

Kai, subconsciously, lifted her chin up to his level. "Because I know who she really is…" he said softly.

Mariam stared up at him. She moved back to that 'this is not Kai Hiwatari' theory she had earlier. Ozuma had said that before…a while after they met. She was mourning over her lost parents. Ozuma had approached her and offered her his help. She asked why.

He simply stated, "_Because I know who you really are…_"

But Kai?

Kai would never say that, not to her, not to anyone. But he did…

They were silent once again, with Mariam trying to avoid his maroon eyes while his were intently staring at hers. What did he want with her?

Kai shook his head in shame. He had really thought that before, he had broken through and gotten to her good side, and now this happened again?

Kai still had a lot of work to do if he was ever gonna win her heart, he decided. He had to push, not only Ozuma, but _Max_ out of her head.

Was she really worth it? Was her heart really worth it? And was she really worth his time? Like _really, really, REALLY _worth it?

Of course.

Mariam stared up at him. "Why're you doing this for me?" she asked diffidently. It was so unlike him to do this for her.

Kai's eyes darted around nervously. How was he supposed to answer that without drawing suspicion? He could answer her without a word, but that would mean that he'd kiss her. And there was the chance of her slapping him. And Kai couldn't risk it.

"You're upset because of a memory…I'll help you."

"But why? What could someone like you possibly want with me?" Mariam demanded.

How was Kai supposed to answer now? Would she hit him?

_Of course not…this was _Mariam _we're talking about_.Came the sarcastic reply in the Russian's head. She'd hit him…

* * *

Oh, Maxie's mad… ooh, what's he gonna do? 

Hope you liked that chapter! Yeah, I know, they're both stubborn…and they'll be like that for quite a while. 'Cause I know that neither of them is that forward, right…?

Both of them seem to think that the other hates their guts, or just hate them. That's possibly what's stopping them from saying anything about their feelings.

And the time there is about a few minutes before sunset, alright? That's why Kai said it's getting late.

And I bet that some of you were either betting that she was either gonna let him kiss her or hit him. Well, she _almost_ let him…kinda. Well, she couldn't really move away so there's that to consider...

I _kinda_ got a reference to the summary. Mariam says "stay off my side" to Kai. Hehe... and poor Maxie… that's it for now.

Sorry that it's so short! I know; I'm so stupid… Bye!


	11. Talking Confusion

Summary: Mariam is considered 'rebellious' but Mariam herself considers it thinking for herself, which everyone says otherwise. What'll happen when someone finally takes her side?

_Well,_ _a whole line like this is thought._

A simple italicized _word_ like that in a sentence with non-italicized words means that the italicized word(s) is/are stressed by speaker. (Same in reverse, if in flashback or already italicized in thought)

"_And like this is…over the phone…see? With the little quotation things?_"

Yeah, for some reason, that's just how I do things…

Disclaimer: I kinda don't own Beyblade…okay; forget 'kinda', I just plain don't own it…

* * *

"_You're upset because of a memory…I'll help you." _

"_But why? What could someone like you possibly want with me?" Mariam demanded. _

_How was Kai supposed to answer now? Would she hit him?_

_Of course not…this was _Mariam _we're talking about. Came the sarcastic reply in the Russian's head. She'd hit him…_

* * *

Kai stored his hands in his pockets coolly. "I…don't want you to suffer what I did." He shrugged. 

Mariam gave him a disbelieving look. "Sure…right," she rolled her eyes, scoffing at him, "and I suppose that next, you're gonna tell me that Dunga can beat me in algebra."

"Perhaps." He smirked at her, "It wouldn't take much, would it?"

Mariam's eyes widened slightly, her jaw hung open. She looked over to him, seeing him scoffing at her with a slight laugh to back it up. He did _not_ just say that… meh, another excuse to argue with him over crap. Seriously, she didn't need this from him; not now. He couldn't have picked another time to do this?

Bastard…

"All right, Kai, you can help me." Mariam smirked, heading for the opening.

Kai scoffed, crossing his arms. This should be interesting. Why'd she give in like that? She wasn't usually like that. She liked doing things her away and didn't give a damn about what anyone else thought. Like how she beat Tyson a while ago, even though the Russian was non-verbally questioning her moves during the battle, she didn't care whether he agreed with her strategy or not, she played it through, and that, Kai found, was a good thing.

He was sure that if Hilary _ever_ bladed before in her life and had to partner with Kai, she'd be trying to impress the Russian, and if Kai thought she made a wrong move, she'd change the strategy, not caring if she won or lost, but if Kai agreed with her. That seemed more like…

…desperation.

To get him to see her? Mariam wouldn't have cared about something like that. She wasn't the type to do that…especially after that Ozuma and Max thing… And now Kai had to work past that…

But why was he constantly comparing Hilary to Mariam?

But it wasn't like there were any _other_ girls he could compare. He barely knew Salima or Mariah…or even Emily.

Well, all he knew was that Salima had an interest in Rei that didn't show until he was around her. And that she had some cheap Drigger metal carbon copy crap. Other than that, he knew absolutely nothing. Like he cared anyways…

And Mariah… well, he had no freaking clue how that girl got pink hair and he didn't even _want_ to know… Again, she had some affection for Rei, and to no surprise. Did everyone in this freaking world like Rei, or was Kai just crazy? Was Kai doomed to remain the unloved, heartless, emotionless bastard for…what, ever?

Oh yeah….

He still had those haunting fan-girls…shit. Okay, Kai was perfectly fine with the fact that everyone liked Rei. He took it all back. Hehe… whew.

Back to Mariah… well, besides the fact that her hair was pink, why did her _clothes_ have to be pink too? Wasn't that a bit much? C'mon, she looked like pink walking cotton freakin' candy! Truly, that was _more_ than enough pink for the world to see. And what would become of those poor 'pink-hating' people? Were they doomed to die if she were to walk by them? Holy frig, man…

Moving on…Emily. She was like intelligence and physique put together, and in her case, it wasn't very good. She always went on about her superiority and her stupid competitiveness! She wouldn't shut the hell up about that crap. And even worse, like Salima and Mariah, she was also 'love-crazy', as Kai had so often referred to before. But it wasn't Rei this time. Oh no, it was the blond that Mariam turned down. And Kai was betting that Miss York (A/N: That _is_ her last name, right? ...?) now hated Mariam's guts, just because Max liked her.

But it wasn't like it was Mariam's fault. She did absolutely nothing to Emily… Mariam was just dragged into it. And if Emily was gonna do something to Mariam about that stupid shit, Kai would certainly have something to say about it later. Because, again, Kai saw Mariam's side. Why hate someone for doing nothing? It wasn't like Mariam _asked_ Max to like her…and even if Mariam _did _like Max back; it still wasn't an excuse for Emily to go bitch slap her or something, because emotions can't be controlled.

Boris already tried controlling Tala's feelings, and it didn't work, so blah to Emily!

And Kai didn't like those girls because…they were too…love-sick. They seemed to use every chance they got to impress their target. Even Hilary, but…hm. Mariam didn't seem to give a shark's butt about that, because she simply didn't care.

"Okay, how?" Kai asked.

_At long last_ Mariam smirked in her head. "Shut…the hell up and leave me alone," she said firmly, and then she smiled sweetly, "'kay?" she said, faking a sweet, innocent voice.

Kai just stood there, in shock of what she just said or did, he couldn't decide. She turned and began walking away. Kai growled.

Crazy girl, she'd get herself killed.

Crap again…she was right. He thought she was some helpless little girl that he needed to save. Kai had never been this protective over a person before, had he? And in that 'first time' thing, what was he supposed to do?

If he wrapped his arms around her from behind after catching up with her, she'd whip around, hit him and scream 'pervert' and possibly stomp on his foot to top it off.

Yeah.

Kai could just imagine it now. And…she was getting away!

_Stupid Kai, you weren't supposed to let her get away. Moron._ His mind scolded him. Kai shook his head in shame. What, was he gonna follow her again? Mariam didn't know about that thing where he stalked Ozuma stalking her and Max, right?

Kai smirked.

Boo-yah.

She didn't.

Wait… 'boo-yah'? Where the flip did _that_ come from?

What was he, Ron Stoppable from 'Kim Possible'? Or Cyborg from 'Teen Titans'? Or whoever? He was Kai Hiwatari, dammit! And Kai Hiwatari _did not_ say 'boo-yah'.

Humph. He folded his arms and closed his eyes, tilting his head down.

_She's kinda getting away, buddy. _His mind said again, _just KINDA_…

Kai scoffed and went after her.

* * *

Mariam shook her head as she swiftly walked along the sidewalk. Her hands were clenched in fists by her sides, mumbling things to herself. 

He didn't come after her…

_Well, duh, you told him to leave you alone._ Her head scoffed.

Mariam shut her eyes tightly for a second before opening them again. She didn't really mean it…she was just saying that. She just said that so he wouldn't think that she actually liked his company. True, the smartass comments and comebacks weren't really needed, but there was just…something about him that she missed.

What the hell?

She just left him there a few seconds ago, and already she missed him? Was she seriously that desperate?

While walking, she turned her head around, to see if he'd come after her. But she wasn't _really, really_ hoping he would. It wasn't like he was her boyfriend…hahaha.

Kai? Being a boyfriend?

Che, not possible.

It wasn't like they had a relationship where he _would_ come after her. But she was just hoping…maybe he would…?

And SLAM, right into some guy's chest, "Oof!"

_Way to go, Mari…_ she sighed to herself. She uttered out her apology, looking up at his face.

"Oh shit, it's you!" she jumped back a bit.

Kai tilted his head to the side in confusion. "That's not very nice, Mariam…" he pointed out bluntly, "besides, I saved you from walking right into that street."

Mariam shook her head quickly and glared up at him. "You! How did you…? What are you…? Are you stalking me?"

Kai's arms were folded over his chest and the look on his face was projecting that 'you stare, you die' expression. "Mariam, I take offense to that. Do I _look_ like the stalking type?"

Mariam put a finger under her chin in thought, looking up. "Well, now that I think about it…" she sighed in a saccharine voice, "chyeah!" she scoffed, laughing right at him.

Kai sent her a dry look. "Well, I'm not." He lied.

Mariam observed his expression for a while. "Sure…right, Kai, and you expect me to believe that?"

"Believe what you want." He stated simply.

Mariam also folded her arms. "And _that_ I won't believe." She pressed past him.

Kai stood there, staring at her departing figure. How could she just…do that? Why did she always make Kai feel like he lost the argument when it meant absolutely nothing? But of course, being Kai, he just…felt it was his duty to follow her. Or should he see to the American and make sure he was alright? Max seemed _pretty_ pissed about that 'barely a kiss' thing.

Tyson could handle Max freaking out, couldn't he? Max was a big boy; he didn't need Kai babysitting him all the time.

But _Kai_ was the reason Max got upset.

_Kai_ was the reason Mariam turned the blond down.

_Kai_ was the reason Ozuma hated Max.

And _Kai_ was the reason Mariam didn't like Max at all in _that_ way.

So…what was Kai trying to do? He was the reason Max was hurting, and Kai couldn't say that he did 'absolutely nothing' to the blond. He knew Max liked Mariam, and he tried to kiss her… So basically, Max saw it as some sort of…

Betrayal.

But Max should've gotten used to it. Kai left the Bladebreakers for the Demolition or Blitzkrieg boys…whatever they called themselves. And he was moving back and forth between them, wasn't he? Betrayal was Kai's thing…besides stalking, of course.

But betrayal in _this_ way was something Kai was sure the American didn't acclimatize to. Kai was pretty sure that the once 'happy-go-lucky' boy was now full of hate. Did Max really like Mariam _that_ much? Enough to lash out like Mariam did?

Mariam had vanished from eyesight and Kai cursed to himself.

* * *

Mariam sighed, closing the door behind her. Joseph was sitting in a chair, sinisterly, glaring at her. He held up a flashlight, aiming it at her face. 

"Alright, sis. Spill. Where were you? Ozuma said you went off with Kai." Joseph said resolutely.

"Ugh…" she lifted an arm to shield her eyes from the light of the device in Joseph's hand. She squinted, "I _was_ with Kai, Joe, but nothing happened."

Joseph lowered the flashlight. She lowered her arm. "My god, he _kissed_ you, didn't he, Mar?"

Mariam put her hands on her hips, annoyed. "Seriously, Joe, what makes you think that happened?"

"You like him, simple as that."

Mariam scoffed. "You're a retard…" she shook her head, making her way past him, to her room.

"_Oh…_" Joseph nodded in realization, "_You_ kissed _him_. Got it." He held up two thumbs-up.

She turned her head to glare at him. "Really, are you like, _asking_ for a beating, or what?"

Joseph raised his hands in mock defeat. She began walking back up the stairs again. Then he smirked at her. "And you know a 'Max Tate', right?"

Suddenly interested, Mariam whipped around to look at her brother. "Yeah…what happened?"

Joseph grinned. "Well, he called, like, five times…"

"And what'd he say?" Mariam asked, nodding to play along with Joseph's stupid antics. She slipped into the room, with Joseph following.

"Not telling." Joseph ran out of the room.

Mariam rolled her eyes and slammed the door behind her brother. "Yeah, well, I hope you burn." She said quietly.

* * *

Well, Kai was hopeless, as it seemed. He went back to Tyson's dojo. Did that kid have to practice _after_ dark, too? Didn't their parents worry? 

Kai scoffed. All he had was Voltaire… and what did he do? Make Kai work, work, and…work. His grandfather was some strange hell-bent maniac. Ruling the world with little spinny tops? Was he serious?

What a fruitcake…

What a retard…

What a bastard…

Then it occurred to Kai; what would Voltaire do if he found that Kai…fell for someone?

Perhaps he wouldn't give a shit, but if he _did_…

Wasn't Kai supposed to be those heartless, emotionless boys who can't have emotions?

Obviously...

But Tala had emotions. And Tala used those emotions to…shake hands with Tyson? Okay, well, not those emotions…but emotions of like, love, infatuation…stuff like that. It wasn't Kai's style, and yet… here he was…with all these. Tala would have a field day. Then Kai wouldn't be Boris's favorite anymore and Tala could be on top again?

Hah. Not bloody likely.

Was Tala really so bent on being Boris's number one?

Weirdo.

Really, how'd Boris get purple hair? How'd Ozuma get red and black hair? How'd Joseph get green hair? How'd Mariah get pink hair? How'd Tyson get midnight blue hair? How'd Mariam get lavender hair? (1)

Well, he wasn't really bothered by Mariam. But still…

Kai saw that Tyson and Rei were practicing while Kenny explained that Max was inside, hogging the phone.

"Huh. I thought that was Hilary's job." Kai scoffed, walking inside.

Hilary leaned over to Kenny. "What did he say?"

"I have no clue." Kenny shook his head, then resumed to be interested in the laptop on front of him, to block out more of Hilary's questions.

* * *

Kai found Max, sitting at the phone. 

"…yeah, I am. Rick, if you tell Emily, I swear that you are gonna get it. Che. Something…but you won't like it."

"Ahem." Kai said, standing in the doorway.

Max looked up. "Gotta run, Rick." He put the dark phone back down. "Yeah, Kai?"

Kai just stared at the cross-legged boy. A few minutes ago, Max looked like he was ready to kill the first person he saw, and now, he seemed to be acting like nothing had ever happened. And it wasn't like Kai _wanted_ Max to remember; it just…seemed odd.

"Having…fun, Max?" Kai asked, nodding a head toward the phone in front of the blond.

Max's cerulean eyes moved away from Kai's maroon-ish ones to glance at the phone before resuming eye contact. "Hm," was all Max could think of.

"Nice…" Kai concluded, nodding in false agreement.

Max nodded in return. The two glared at each other for a while before the shrill ring of the phone broke the silence. Max picked it up. "Hello?"

"_Mariam asks who the hell you think you are, calling her five times while she's out with Kai. She said that she never intended to hurt you, but you asked for it._" Joseph said for his sister on the other line.

Max glanced at Kai for a second before listening to what the boy was saying.

"…_she wants to know why the bloody hell you called so many damn times. Huh? What's that, Mar? She wants to know what your problem is._" The olive-haired boy said calmly, not minding that he was in the middle of the fight.

Max growled. "Tell her that she's my problem. What was she doing with Kai?" the blond waited a moment before hearing the distinct voice of Joseph talking to Mariam, despite the hand over the receiver.

"_She says that she doesn't give a damn if she's the problem or not and that it's none of your business what she was doing with Kai._" Joseph replied in a happy tone.

The blond took a hated glare at the Russian who went over to the kitchen where Tyson's grandfather was. He was listening behind the wall.

"Well, I'm making it my business." Max replied.

He heard Joseph's sigh again, then his voice talking to Mariam once more.

"_She said for you to burn. And she wants to know why you were looking for her anyways._"

"I wanted to know why she turned me down." Max said desolately. Kai shook his head. Was Max _really, really_ in love with her? Was he so desperate that he would do this? He didn't seem like the type.

"_She said it's because she likes someone else._" Joseph said in an ominous voice. Max then heard Mariam scream 'What?' at her brother, then the grunts of effort in struggle, possibly for the phone.

"_I did not say that, you little brat! Stop telling lies! Lying is a sin! Jeez, man…_" Mariam sighed.

"_Jeez, Mar! I'm not lying! That's what you told me, remember? Remember you told me that you liked Kai?_"

Mariam was growling on the other line. "_Gimme the phone, brat!_"

"_Why? You said you didn't like Max! You never liked him, Mar! You said you were just 'using' him!_" Joseph answered.

Max's eyes widened in shock. He was staring off into his own little world now as he slowly put the phone back down.

* * *

Mariam finally got the phone. "Hello, Max?" 

Nothing…but dial tone.

Mariam slammed the phone down. "Look what you did, Joe." She shook her head and stormed off.

Another person hated her…and would Kai be able to fix it for her?

* * *

Max was still staring off into wherever. Kai came back in the room. The blond looked up at the slate-haired boy. 

"You…heard that?"

Kai nodded. "Almost every word." (2)

Max nodded solemnly and looked away. "Kai…I need to be alone right now."

Kai just stared at him, and then walked out of the room, muttering "Welcome to my world, Max." on his way out.

* * *

(1) I _wanted_ to put Ming-Ming in there saying "How did Ming-Ming get bright blue hair?" but I forgot that she's not supposed to be in here… I think there was some other people I was gonna put in here, but I forgot them… 

(2) He said _almost_ every word, meaning that he didn't hear it all. He didn't hear when Joseph said that Mariam likes Kai though, because Grandpa made Kai help him with something in the kichen. All right? And I don't want their emotions clear to each other just yet...hey, real emotions take time to develop!)

So, Max knows now… And Kai's…evaluation on the girls…well, yeah, that was just odd, I know. Really, Joseph should learn to shut up, I swear… (right now, I'm basing Joseph's character on one of my guy friends whose name is also Joseph… isn't that fun?)

And Mariam isn't _really_ mad…but right now, I'm just trying to take Ozuma and Max out of the picture for the Kai/Mariam thing… I think I might also have to remove Hilary from the picture… Who else is in the way? Hm…

And is Max OOC? And should Kai and Max hate each other? Hmm...

Still...poor Maxie.

Kai's a stalker! That's how he got in front of Mariam! Run!

And please review! I feel sad now...


	12. One Of Them

Disclaimer: I do not own the Beyblade…despite my wishing… P

Wow, I just kinda forgot about this fic... Um, if I don't update next time within two weeks or so, someone better do something to remind me... Anyways, I have an appointment tomorrow, so I thought of the things I had to do, and found the document...then I remembered.

* * *

With Mariam and Joseph: 

_Mariam was growling on the other line. "_Gimme the phone, brat!_"_

"Why? You said you didn't like Max! You never liked him, Mar! You said you were just 'using' him!_" Joseph answered._

_Mariam finally got the phone. "_Hello, Max?_" _

_Nothing…but dial tone. _

_Mariam slammed the phone down. "Look what you did, Joe." She shook her head and stormed off. _

_Another person hated her…and would Kai be able to fix it for her?_

With Max and Kai:

_Max's eyes widened in shock. He was staring off into his own little world now as he slowly put the phone back down._

_Max was still staring off into wherever. Kai came back in the room. The blond looked up at the slate-haired boy. _

"_You…heard that?"_

_Kai nodded. "Almost every word." _

_Max nodded solemnly and looked away. "Kai…I need to be alone right now."_

_Kai just stared at him, and then walked out of the room, muttering "Welcome to my world, Max" on his way out._

* * *

Kai leaned his weight on the wall beside the doorway. Kai didn't even know that. He thought she liked Max, even the slightest bit. Mariam didn't seem like the type to use people. What would she use Max for? Kai's maroon/violet eyes scanned the floor in thought, until something rushed in his head. 

_Emily!_

Emily now could use that as a reason to hurt Mariam. Would Kai still stand up for Mariam then? What would Kai and Mariam do then…?

* * *

Mariam fell face-up on her bed, spreading her arms. Things were confusing enough as it was, but then _Joseph_ had to go say that she was using Max. She had intended to keep that a secret from the American. Why did she have to fall in love with Kai? Why? He probably got enough of that from those freaky fan-girls who followed his every step. She didn't want to seem like 'one of them'. 

Mariam sat up, growling in annoyance.

Why? Why did she have to fall in love with Kai? Why couldn't it be someone else? Someone who actually…liked her…

Mariam shook her head, falling back down on the mattress, landing her head on the pillow.

It was impossible. He…he was Kai Hiwatari, one of the most famous beybladers in the world and she…she was just Mariam, the one trying to seal the four bit-beasts.

Well, not anymore… she got kicked off the Saint Shields for being who she is.

That was a load of crap, and only she and Kai knew it…

Mariam always wanted to be independent. She wanted to show the world that she didn't need a guy to make her feel…like she could belong. But when she met Ozuma… that all changed.

Mariam sighed. Why did Ozuma have to go and ruin everything?

* * *

Kai crossed his arms over his chest, and then hung his head. _She's probably thinking about him now…_

He wasn't the type to be thinking about a certain person all the time, but this was different. Kai now had a new challenge to face. He had to get Ozuma and Max out of Mariam's head, without her knowing that he…had feelings for her. How would everyone react if they found out? Why was Kai so worried about that? He could have anyone in the world if he wanted, but he had to fall for the one girl that hated his guts more than anything else in the world, didn't he?

His dark crimson eyes narrowed. He put his arms back by his sides. "Why did this have to happen?" he muttered quietly to himself, walking outside of the dojo.

"Hey Kai, wanna practice with us?" Tyson grinned.

Kai ignored him and walked right past him.

"Ouch…" Tyson mumbled.

"What's wrong with him?" Hilary asked, watching the Russian walk out into the streets.

Rei crossed his arms. "Probably just homesick…"

"Or Mariam-sick." Kenny huffed quietly.

"Hah! Kai, with someone like Mariam?" Tyson scoffed, "I don't think so, Kenny. You've been in the sun too long… Go inside, Chief."

Kenny just sighed. "No point in reasoning with you, Tyson…"

* * *

Max still hadn't gotten over it yet. Mariam just pretended to like him? To use him? He actually liked her and she knew it…so why'd she do that to him? But that…almost kiss that he saw…what did it mean? Did it mean that Kai liked Mariam? Or that Mariam liked Kai? 

Max shook his head furiously. He was so confused. He even told _Emily_ that he liked Mariam. He told pretty much everyone. Max never saw Emily's reaction to that, because he had skipped off cheerily, like he always did.

Who could he talk to now? Would anyone understand Max's situation? Max then sighed.

Was he...desperate enough to change for her?

Desperate enough to go after Kai?

* * *

Joseph appeared at the doorway of his sister's room. He lightly slammed a hand to the doorframe. "Yo, sis…" 

Mariam tossed over in her bed. "Go away; I'm sleeping."

"Don't do that to me, Mar." Joseph said in a serious tone. Mariam opened her eyes. Was Joseph saying this because he felt guilty for what he said to Max? He was the only person left that didn't hate her. She couldn't push him away too. She was unloved enough as it was.

She sat up. "Alright, Joseph, what is it?" she smiled warmly at him. With her brother, she could be herself. No being tough and yelling at people. No hiding her feelings… She just wished she could be this way with someone else too…

"Ozuma wanted me to tell you that he doesn't hate you. It's just hard to let go and forget about someone like that, y'know?" Joseph said softly. This was one of the sides of Joseph that no one but Mariam saw. His sympathetic side…the one that made her feel better, even though he was younger than her. He was nice to her and he'd always be on her side, no matter what anyone else said.

She wished Kai were like that.

What?

How could Mariam think that? Kai hated her more than hate itself! He couldn't be like that to her. It was one of those impossible things, that'd never happen. So why was she wishing it _would_ happen?

Mariam nodded. "I know."

Joseph smiled genially at her. "Nice to know you care, Mar."

"I've always cared about you, Joseph," she smiled sweetly, "I just never showed it much." She shrugged, still smiling.

"Mar, do I _have_ to go to sleep now?" Joseph whined.

"Yeah, ya do, now go." Mariam smirked.

The olive-haired boy sighed, "Alright, alright." He slumped, walking off.

Mariam shook her head at him. She didn't want to go to sleep, because if she did, she feared that her dreams would be filled with Kai, Max and Ozuma, all hating her. Why did the people she liked, even the slightest bit, seem to hate her? That was a painful thing, actually.

Someone that you really, truly love hating you.

That didn't seem right.

But Mariam couldn't stay up all night, fearing her dreams, could she?

* * *

"_Eh…who is this?_" 

Kai groaned. "Tala, it's Kai."

"_Oh…why the hell are you calling?_" the redhead Russian grumbled.

"Tala, what feelings were you not able to control when Boris made you a cyborg?"

Tala let out a heavy, annoyed sigh, "_Why? What the hell are you up to, Hiwatari?_"

"Nothing, Valkov, so just tell me which ones were unable to be controlled." Kai sighed, grumbling, "Then you can go back to sleep."

"_Ugh…_" Tala complained, "_Huh…affection, caring, fondness, jealousy and I think love._" (A/N: coughBoriscoughBryancough)

_Shit_… Kai cursed. Most of them were linked to the predicament. Kai had all of those. So…what Tala said possibly meant that those are the ones that can _never_ be controlled.

Good thing or bad thing?

Kai could only wonder…

* * *

"Sis…sis…sis!" Joseph yelled. Mariam grumbled something and tossed over. Joseph growled at his sister. _She_ was older, and yet _he_ was waking _her_ up at nine o'clock in the morning. He picked up the spare pillow and slammed it against his sister's back. "Mariam!" he shouted. 

"Meh?" Mariam asked, pulling the covers overher head, "Joseph, go away."

Joseph kept slamming the pillow on her in a childish fashion, bouncing whenever he did. "But Mar, it's important!" he olive haired boy whined.

"Wake me up when it's an emergency…" Mariam scoffed, trying to get back to sleep.

Joseph put the pillow down slowly, in defeat. "But Mar…" he sighed, "Huh?" he looked over at the ringing phone at her bedside.

"_It's Mariam. I'm not here. If it's Kai, don't even bother saying a word. Everyone else, leave a message._" Her answering machine said, then gave a beep.

Mariam sat up, rubbing her eye. "Uh?"

"_So you don't like Kai either, huh? Good for you, girl. Well, anyways, Kai gave me your number. Don't know _how_ he got it… Meh. But you don't want me rambling on about Kai, do you? Whatever. Something's up with Kai, and _you're_ gonna figure it out. Kenny told me that he has a fondness of you and only you. That's why…_" Mariam didn't hear the rest; she had it blocked out since she was spacing out, with her mouth open in shock, staring out the window.

"…_and if you haven't guessed, it's Tala._"

Mariam blinked, the one that she thought was with Kai? Well, the voice was masculine, so Tala _was _a guy.

Joseph looked at his sister. "Now it's an emergency."

Mariam sent him a glare, stepping out of bed and throwing the sheets aside. "You didn't tell me this earlier?" she grumbled, moving swiftly past him.

"I tried to tell you." He shrugged at her as she went over to her closet. Mariam disregarded him and Joseph let himself out.

Mariam scoffed. "Sure…" she sighed, getting her Saint Shields uniform out.

* * *

"Huh?" Tyson asked at the dojo door, "Kai's not here yet. Why're you looking for 'im?" he asked, raising his brows at her. 

Mariam tilted back a bit. Why _was_ she doing this? Just because Tala told her to? She didn't even know what the guy looked like… Was she using that as an excuse to be with Kai? Was she really going to let her inside self show? Tyson's hazel eyes were watching her expression, waiting for her answer soon.

"It's none of your business, Granger." Mariam shot smugly. That should work. Nothing revealed, nothing hinted. How did Tala know that something was wrong with Kai anyways? Did they talk? Did they meet? What?

"Fine…wanna come in?" Tyson offered, gesturing to the inside of the dojo, "I'm just about to start training," he grinned.

Mariam tilted her head to the side in confusion, "Now? It's only five after nine…don't you wake up at like…six or something?"

"Hey! A dude needs to have time to eat!" Tyson yelled.

"For three hours?"

"And shower…" the World Champion bit his lip.

Mariam scoffed. "Whatever." She pressed past him.

Tyson stood there blinking, looking at where she was just a second ago. "Yeah, just _come on in_." he said dully, closing the door. He went over and saw her jump onto the chair, sideways so that her feet were up, "So, want something to eat?"

"Nah, I'm not hungry."

He shrugged. "Your loss."

Mariam just shook her head as the Japanese blader went back into the kitchen. "Moron…" she sighed.

"I heard that!" Tyson shouted from the other room. C'mon, a little squid couldn't hurt, right? And rice cakes! Ooh and some of those roll thingies! Tyson grinned widely. This was gonna be fun, whether he had company or not.

_Knock, knock_

"Mariam, can you get that? I kinda preoccupied at the moment!" Tyson yelled.

Mariam sighed, standing up. "Tche, 'kinda'?" she scoffed, going over to the door.

"Hi Tyson! Whoa! You're not Tyson." Hilary said, almost giving Mariam a hug, mistaking her for a certain blue-haired human eating machine.

Mariam forced a sugary smile. "Ooh, nice of you to point that out, Sherlock. I _never_ would have figured that out without you." Mariam said dryly. Okay, okay…Kai was right; Hilary _was_ a bit ditzy at times, but Mariam couldn't help but point out the obvious.

"What are you, the female version of Kai?" Hilary asked, putting her hands on her hips sourly.

"Really? I thought I was the female version of Ozuma." She said, with much anger projected in her eyes. Mariam bit on her lip, hard, to prevent her from lashing out at the brunette there and then. The more the looked at this Wicked Witch of the Eighth Grade, the more she wanted to hit her, the more she dug her teeth into her lip. It felt ready to bleed at some point.

Mariam slammed the door in Hilary's face.

Bitch…

Tyson appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. "Who was that?"

"Salesman." Mariam replied quickly.

Tyson nodded. "Oh…yeah, I hate those people too. Even if they sell food. Gramps told me to beat them off with a stick."

"Interesting…" she nodded slowly in confusion.

"Amazingly." Tyson added, in a 'not-so-sarcastic but I'm still sarcastic' voice.

Mariam stared at the floor for a while. Why couldn't it be Kai here with her? Not Tyson…? Mariam gasped lightly to herself. Why was it that that certain slate and navy haired Russian couldn't stay out of her head for at least three minutes? This was so stupid! Nothing like this has even happened before…not even with Ozuma.

"…Tyson Granger, if you know what's good for you, you will open up this door immediately!" Hilary screeched from the other side of the door, pounding her fists on it.

Mariam glanced at the door, then back at Tyson. "And you put up with her, _how_?"

"I have _no_ idea." He shook his head, going over to the door to open it. Hilary and Kai stood in the doorway.

The Russian's eyes widened when he saw Mariam…in Tyson's dojo? At quarter past nine? And was that…_squid_ he smelt?

Kai's eyed narrowed to dark maroon slits.

What was _Mariam_ doing at Tyson's at nine fifteen?

Mariam, on the other hand, was glaring at Hilary. What was _she_ doing with Kai? But…she had no time to be upset about that. She was going to find out what Tala meant when he said Kai was acting weird whether Kai liked it or not.

"So, Kai…I've had a little chat with Tala," Mariam started, glancing up at him.

"Oh…what…about Tala?" Kai asked uneasily. How the hell did she talk to Tala? Oh yeah…he gave him her number. Shit. She probably thought he was a stalker. Then again, she already did...

Mariam was nodding. "He seemed nice…" she smiled.

Tyson and Hilary slinked out of their conversation, going to check on the squid.

_Tala? Nice?_ _In her dreams…_ Kai resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"And cute." She added, lying. Okay, she didn't know what he looked like but she wanted to see what would happen. Perhaps she could see why Tala said he was acting odd.

_Cute?_ Kai thought, clenching his fists by his sides. _Tala, cute?_

"Cuter than you, in fact." Mariam said, looking away, hoping to avoid his penetrating eyes. They demanded the truth and she refused to give it to them.

Kai's eyes widened. She did _not_ just say that! Oh, this is hysterical moment. Kai, _the_ Kai, who most girls were crazy over, fell for someone who, not only hates his guts, but thinks that someone else is cuter than him. That was just perfect…wonderful. Crap. He didn't want to be like Ozuma and Max. They liked her, but she liked someone else. He didn't want to seem like…one of them.

Mariam closed her eyes. "Nicer than you, cuter than you, and just better than you." She smirked, counting them off her fingers.

Kai was growling inwardly. If he kissed her there and then, would he prove anything? Just to prove himself? That he _was_ better than Tala? He was on top of Ozuma and Max, and now he had to compete with Tala? Holy shit, man…

"Kai?" Mariam asked, looking to see if there was anyone home.

"What?" he spat.

"Nothing, take it easy," Mariam said, backing off.

Kai folded his arms. "What's so great about Tala anyways?"

"Huh? I dunno…" she shrugged. _Lie…make something up._ "Lots of things."

Kai surveyed her eyes for a moment. "You're lying." (1)

"Huh?" Mariam asked, tiling back.

* * *

He's a witch! 

Sorry, I just had to say that. Really, sometimes I scare myself with these chapters sometimes…This seemed like more of a filler chapter, but I wasn't really in a mood to write fan fiction. Really, I had something else planned, but somehow, the plan just...changed. I blame Ozuma. And yah, this chapter was weird...but don't hit me!

(1) - Kind of a reference to my other Kai/Mariam fic, but the other one was a one-shot. Yes, that was really irrelevant to point that out. But bleh!

Sorry that Max isn't in here a whole lot, but he'll be a big part in the next chapter. I'm not sure he's out of the way yet, though. Tala? He's not even _in_ the way. Hah.

Max is determined to change for Mariam. Will Emily be around to see this out?  
Mariam blames Ozuma for everything that's happened to her. Does Kai have anything to say about that?  
Kai believes that Max and Ozuma are out of the way to Mariam's heart. Will he reach it before something bad happens?  
Kenny is the only one who knows Kai's feelings. Will Tyson and the others believe him if he tells them?  
Joseph is Ozuma's messenger to Mariam. How long until Ozuma decides to face her again?

I don't know why I did that, but I just wanted to point those things out. Also that's something for you guys to think about in case I forget again.

Bye! Review, review!


	13. Maxie's Back

Disclaimer: I do not own the Beyblade…despite my wishing… P

I'm calling him 'Rei', not 'Ray' because in the other chapters, I called him 'Rei', and I'm too lazy to change things now… (Because nobody told me that I called him Rei not Ray) all right then?

_

* * *

Kai folded his arms. "What's so great about Tala anyways?" _

"_Huh? I dunno…" she shrugged_. Lie…make something up._ "Lots of things." _

_Kai surveyed her eyes for a moment. "You're lying."_

"_Huh?" Mariam asked, tiling back. _

* * *

"What do you mean, I'm lying?" Mariam demanded, putting her hands on her hips. 

Kai smirked. "I mean, that you really don't think that Tala's so great." He said, looking down at her, "You're too afraid to love somebody again, aren't you?"

Mariam stared up at him, her jade orbs quivering. _How…how did he know that? Maybe he went through the same thing before…_ Wait…this was Kai. Kai Hiwatari. And Kai Hiwatari didn't do love…didn't we go over this already? Ugh…

Mariam looked back up at him, her glare harder this time. She shoved him out of the way, moving past him.

Kai watched her leave. _She must've taken it in the wrong way…Way to go, Kai…you're so brilliant. Why'd you have to fall for a girl who hates your guts, out of anyone else in the world?_ He sighed.

"Well, aren't you gonna follow her?"

Kai whipped around, seeing Tyson and Hilary smiling at him, holding the squid. "What are you talking about?"

Hilary shrugged. "I dunno…you seem to spend a lot of time with her. Aren't you gonna follow her like you always do?"

Kai grunted lightly, turning away again, "Fine, I'll follow her. Just to prove you wrong…" he said, walking off.

Tyson looked at Hilary. "Actually, wouldn't that be proving you right?"

"Meh," she shrugged again, "let him be…" she said.

The pair went back in the kitchen to finish up with the squid that Tyson had prepared for breakfast.

* * *

Mariam stood at the bridge, looking over the edge. "Stupid Kai…doesn't he know that everything isn't a joke?" she grunted hotly, "Has to make a joke out of everything, doesn't he?" she stared at the horizon, letting the winds play with her hair to a weird beat. 

She sighed, brushing her left bangs behind her ear, only to have the wind beat them out of place again. "What a moron…"

And she thought Kai was the one who takes everything so seriously. Shows how much she knew about a person, huh? Especially Kai.

Still…

* * *

Kai found her talking to herself at the bridge. If he answered one of her questions, then she'd think he was stalking her, wouldn't she? Why was he doing this? Was he so stupid? Silently, he went over beside her.

* * *

Mariam was closing her eyes, muttering more things for the Russian blader to suffer. Why did her head hurt? She hung her head. 

"I'm so stupid…"

She sighed, shaking her head. Kai, beside her, raised an amused brow at her, smirking. If he did this, then his mind and his heart might be at rest. He inched closer.

Damn! That stupid slate-haired Russian was still in her head. Why wouldn't he get out? What was wrong with her? What was wrong with him? Why was he always sticking around her?

To help her?

That was a load of shit and she knew it. It was something more…like when he took her into that corner to talk about Dranzer and ended up almost kissing her, were it not for Max. Now, to thank Max, or to hit him? That was the question Mariam faced.

Kai rested his arms on the rail of the bridge. What was she thinking? Kai wanted to see Tala in this situation, so he could laugh later. But no…it was him. Did this girl have a last name? Who knew? Poor Joseph then…

"How come anything I do is never good enough?" she asked herself. Kai could _try_ to understand what she was talking about, but he knew that females were quite confusing characters. Again, he inched closer, without her notice.

"Kai…" She said his name, making Kai look at her again. For a second there, Kai actually thought that Mariam knew he was there. Then he realized that her eyes were closed, possibly in boredom. Yep, females; confusing characters…

"Hmm?" he answered, making her open her eyes. The first thing she noticed was how close he was to her. She would've screamed, but…

Quickly, Kai leaned into her, capturing her lips in one swift kiss that ended as quickly as it had started.

Mariam's eyes were open wide, staring at him.

Kai just stared at her, then uttered something softly in Russian and walked away, refusing to look at her again.

"Kai?" she asked again, watching him go. Why did he do that?

* * *

Kai kept walking, pulling out his cell phone. Maybe he could talk to Tala again. 

"Don't even think about it."

Kai looked over and saw none other than Tala standing there.

"If you're thinking about calling me to talk about that, you're dead wrong." Tala said firmly, glaring.

"You…saw that?" Kai asked, biting his lip. Crap. Tala had what he needed to blackmail Kai for life!

Tala let a smirk grace his lips, and then nodded sinisterly. "Yeah," the redhead replied, resisting the urge to coo at Kai and pinch at his cheeks, like what a grandmother would do to her young grandchild. It was very hard to resist when Kai was in a situation like this.

"Tala, you bastard." Kai cursed, wanting to kill the redhead right there. And he wanted to _talk_ to Tala a few seconds ago, why?

"Yeah you're right…" Tala sighed, looking at his shoes, "I'll make more fun of you when you make out with her."

Kai just glared. "What makes you think that that will be happening?"

"I have this feeling." Tala said knowingly. Kai avoided his eyes, "You like her?"

Kai rolled his dark crimson orbs, "No, Tala, I just kissed her for fun…" he said dully.

"Aw, that's no fun." Tala grumbled, pouting slightly.

"You're a retard." Kai retorted.

Tala smirked, "One question though."

"What?" the slate-haired boy sighed, with a bit of anger and annoyance present in his voice.

Tala kept his face straight, "Why did you tell her that you were sorry?"

"Oh…you heard that?"

Tala sighed, "No, Kai, I just asked that for the heck of it…" he said just as dully as Kai did before, "Of course I heard it! Even she heard it, but I doubt she understood it."

"I told her sorry, because I hurt her."

"With a kiss?" Tala asked, confused, "You didn't even kiss her that hard, man."

"No, moron…" Kai glared, "you…wouldn't understand anyways."

Tala tilted his head to the side. "So…are you saying that you know her better than she knows herself?"

"That's what I've been saying this whole time, but she doesn't believe me." Kai said, staring over Tala's shoulder to see her again.

Tala noticed and turned to see what Kai was looking at, then looked at the emotions present in Kai's eyes.

* * *

Mariam was staring at Kai talking to…the redheaded kid. Was that supposed to be Tala? If he was, Mariam was right; he was cute… 

Mariam almost slapped herself for thinking that. Okay, she admitted it; he was cute, but that didn't mean that she had to like him. She had just realized she liked Kai. Did Kai kiss her out of pity? Or to get her to stop hurting because of Ozuma and Max? Did they bet Kai to do that? Was it a dare?

Did they know about…her? Or to impress his little friend, Tala?

That was most likely the case. Unlike Hilary and some of the other girls, Mariam was hard to open up to the world because of insecurities. Kai possibly did that to show that he was the only one to be able to break a difficult target. It was hard to get on her good side, and everyone knew that; she hated everyone but Joseph...so it would seem. And with Kai being Kai, he knew fully well that he could have anyone in the world if he wanted, except Mariam. Maybe he was just doing that to prove to Tala that he could break through anyone's heart.

So, was she supposed to be upset with Kai? And what was that thing he said to her in Russian? It could be anything! Like 'you're a bitch' or 'go to hell' or 'I hate you'….

* * *

Kai blinked. "What do you mean?" 

Tala sighed. "Want me to run through this again?" Kai nodded. "Fine…you guys hate each other's guts, right? And…"

"Actually…" Kai cut in, "she hates mine. I don't exactly hate hers."

"Whatever." Tala sighed, rolling his eyes, "so why'd she let you kiss her if she hates your guts?"

Kai just looked at him, as if he were stating the obvious, "It was a surprise attack thing…she didn't know."

"How cute…" the redhead Russian said dryly.

* * *

Mariam didn't know what she was supposed to do now… She liked Kai…and Kai kissed her. Her best guess was that he knew and it was out of pity. Why was she getting so worked up over this? Did she really care about what Kai thought of her? 

Of course she did.

She knew she liked him, but she'd never say it aloud, especially not to him.

This wasn't like him. Of course it was out of pity! Mariam shook her head.

That was stupid…

She couldn't act like this.

And here she was…

She'd have to settle this thing with Kai, one way or another…

* * *

Kai sighed at Tala. He turned around and went back to Mariam. She looked confused. 

"Mariam…I have to tell you something." Kai said confidently.

Mariam blinked in confusion, "Are you gonna waste my time?"

"No." Kai retorted, "All right, remember when I said I'd help you?"

"Yeah, you wouldn't let me forget." Mariam sighed, blowing a loose strand out of her eyes.

"Well, it turns out…that I only said that because…I told Ozuma to break up with you. Well, more like convinced him to." _And manipulated him to…_

Mariam felt herself in shock and she could've sworn that she felt herself turning paler. It…it was all his fault. All the lies, traps, and pain that she made others feel, as well as herself...it was all Kai's fault. How could she fall in love with someone who did all that to her?

She repeated a line over in her head, _Don't hit him, don't hit him, don't hit him…_

She brought her hand in for a quick slap across his cheek, then turned on her heel and walked away. Her stomach hurt, like it was burning. Because she hurt Kai? Or because Kai hurt her?

"Hey, Mariam?" a person she passed by asked.

"Huh?" she brushed a few strands from her eyes, "Max…"

He nodded. "Yeah…that's me. What is it?"

Mariam shook her head. "I dunno…"

"You look paler…" Max noted, studying her face. True, she was paler and there were noticeable beads of sweat on her forehead. Something happened.

"Oh…I guess I am." Mariam shrugged, sighing a bit, "Did you want something from me or do you just expect me to stand here all day, staring?"

Max backed off a bit, "Sorry, it's just that…you looked like you needed some help."

Help?

That was the last thing she needed. How could she trust people again when the only person she wanted to trust hurt her?

It wasn't right. None of this was. Kai hurt her, and he knew it. Maybe he kissed her to take his guilt away.

Mariam turned away, "Just go away, Max…" she muttered, bringing her fingers to her temple. He couldn't see her like this, not now, not in her state of vulnerability. Kai had hurt her enough; she didn't need Max rubbing it in or getting her to trust again.

Kai had done it before. When she couldn't trust anymore, Kai came along and somehow…got her to trust again. He was the only one she _did_ trust, he just never knew it. Did Max really have to make her feel like that all over again?

Max leaned over to see her face, so he could use his azure eyes to see into her jade ones, "What…happened, Mariam?"

Again, she turned away, "Nothing that concerns you, Max. So just run along back to Tyson and Kenny," she said firmly. Well, that's how it was. Kai…he had all the time in the world, so he could've spent as much time with her as he wanted, but Max…he always had practices with Tyson and Kenny. He couldn't get her to open up. Not like Kai did…

Mariam's emerald green eyes were in shock when she felt a pair of strong, firm arms wrap around her small waist from behind. She looked down, seeing the pair of red gloves on the pale hands, and she already knew it was Max's doing. His left hand tightly clamped over his right wrist, in a lock that ensured that she couldn't get out. Why was he doing this?

"Mariam…" Max began in a firm tone, as if to get her to tell him everything, "you'll feel better…if you talk about it."

Well, she certainly had no choice in the matter, did she? It was either talk, or remain in Max's firm grip for eternity (exaggerating…) .

Mariam shook her head. Max chuckled lightly at the hair in her ponytail brushing at his skin. She shuddered at his breath at _her_ skin, "You wouldn't understand…"

The blond lay his chin on her shoulder, making Mariam flinch. But he tightened his grip again, to prevent her from getting away, "Try me." He demanded, but in a gentle way.

Once again, Mariam shook her head, "I…don't think so, Max."

Why was Max so confident in doing this? When Max had a crush on her, he didn't refer to it often; he would shy away, stutter or blush in front of her. Great…Max was probably drunk and she was gonna get raped. That was just wonderful…

Then Mariam realized; why wasn't she fighting back?

Again, she tried to get out.

"Mariam…please." Max begged lightly.

Mariam shook her head furiously, clamping her eyes tight. "Kai…" she muttered in a pleading tone. Luckily for her, Max didn't hear that.

_Why are you expecting Kai to help you? _Her mind asked her, _He _hurt_ you, remember? _Her eyes fell open.

Mariam sighed. She knew that. But he seemed to be the closest to her, despite their feuding.

Well, technically, Max was the closest to her, but she meant emotionally, not physically.

She struggled again. Maybe this was one of those 'hidden strengths' things that she heard about…'cause she couldn't get out of Max's grip, "Max…I um…have to go see Joseph about something." She made up.

Max chuckled at her, "Well, Joseph can wait."

She gulped; nothing was working.

Once again, Max used his arms to push against her stomach, making her lean on him, "Y'know…" Max began, "I don't really like being so serious."

Mariam placed her hands on his wrists, trying to pry herself out of his grip, "Well, I do."

Max chuckled softly again, "Well, it doesn't suit me. It suits you fine, though."

Mariam sighed, jerking her head back, letting it fall on Max's shoulder, "Why'd you change, then?"

"Hey, it's a crime to change who you are if you feel it's right? If something happens to make you change, wouldn't you do it to make yourself feel better?" the blond asked.

She shrugged, "I suppose…"

"Exactly." The American grinned.

"So what happened to make you change?" Mariam asked, closing her eyes gently.

"Heh…" he smirked, "I should ask you the same question." He asked in return, trying to avoid her question.

Mariam cracked an eye open, "Whatdya mean?"

Max held her possessively, "You're always hanging around with Kai…I would've thought you'd be bugging Dunga all day."

"Well, who would _you_ rather hang around with? Kai or Dunga?" Mariam retorted, opening both eyes fully.

The American chuckled again, "I see your point. No offense to Dunga, of course."

"Dunga wouldn't mind anyways…" Mariam murmured.

Max smiled, then noticed something, looking back down at her, "Are you playing Kai?"

"What?" she asked, lifting her head off him. She sounded more offended than curious.

He rolled his shoulders, "Well, it's just that…since you were kicked off the Saint Shields and you guys were after our blades. Dunga was after Kai's… I was just thinking, that Dunga might've sent you to hang around with Kai, to get close to him…then steal his blade."

"Huh?" Mariam stared at him for a while, "No…nothing like that. Besides, I could get Kai's blade whenever I want."

"I never said you couldn't." Max smirked, "Then are you protecting him?"

"Like how?" Mariam inquired.

Max shrugged. "Since you're not in the Saint Shields anymore, you could want revenge…so you hang around Kai to make sure that Dunga doesn't take Dranzer."

Mariam folded her arms, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"You mean Dunga's been saying smarter things?" Max asked playfully.

Mariam just grunted softly, then she wondered; before, there was a wind that was playing with her hair, blowing it around. Now, she only felt a slight breeze, but looking around, the trees were still being blown with the intensity as she had seen just a few minutes ago.

Max was blocking the wind from getting to her…

Mariam turned her head around to see him, "Why are you doing this for me?"

Max smiled again, warmly, and kept his possessive hold on her, "I like you."

Mariam bit on her lip tentatively. For some reason, that came as some sort of surprise to her. Sure, she _knew_ that he liked her, but he never told her before. But…those words…made her feel better. The burning pain in her stomach died down.

Was this the part where she was supposed to say that she liked him too? Was she supposed to kiss his cheek or something? Or just kiss him? Was she supposed to be _nice_ to him now? Because that's what Ozuma did to her.

But why did Mariam feel the need to compare whoever approached her (or tried to approach her) to Ozuma? She couldn't miss him. They had just gotten used to being 'friends' again. And most of the people Mariam hung around were guys. She didn't exactly have a female friend, guide, confidant, or whatever to talk to.

Mariam then remembered the Team Psychic people that Joseph mentioned before. There was that one girl…Salima. She, like Mariam, was forced to hang around guys, and rarely any females her age.

Perfect!

Mariam was about to head off to find Salima, but she remembered that she was still in Max's grip.

"…and you probably already knew that I liked you, but it's just that…I never got the chance to tell you." Max said. Was he rambling while she was thinking?

Mariam nodded, "I know, Max…" she said with a light smile, "I…I...I..."

Max looked down at her. What was she saying?

Mariam turned herself around, with Max loosening his grip enough for her to. She was now face to face with Max. He stared down at her, his sapphire eyes begging with her own olive ones. He was looming over her, his breath caressing her skin.

Max nodded, telling her to continue.

"I…think you're pretty cool." Mariam breathed out, "You…made me see what I did wrong. And you proved yourself a pretty good friend."

(A/N: Okay, who thought she was gonna say that she liked him?)

Max nodded numbly; his eyes were already closed and he was leaning in to her. Mariam raised a confused brow; she figured that he didn't hear the last part about him being her _friend_. His main focus was getting close enough to press his lips over hers…to kiss her.

* * *

"Tyson!" Hilary scolded, slapping Tyson's hand. 

"What? I'm hungry!"

"Well," Hilary began, moving the plate away from the blue-haired boy, "you have to wait until everyone's here." She walked back to the kitchen.

Tyson grumbled something under his breath, then put his feet up on the table, "C'mon, it's only Max and Kai missing. Kai wouldn't care anyways. Max…I'm not sure about."

Rei sighed, landing his chin in his palm, his elbow pushing against the table, "That really depends, Tyson…" he said monotonously.

Two fists landed on the table. Hilary came out in time to utter out an "ooh?" in wonder.

"I'm hungry!" Tyson yelled, banging his fists again, his feet back on the ground.

"You're _always_ hungry, Tyson." The Chinese blader said flatly.

"I know…" Tyson replied, "that's my point."

Rei looked over at the brunette. "Do I really have to be here?"

"If _you_ leave, then I'll _never_ get to be able to eat." The midnight blue-haired boy folded his arms over his chest and pouted childishly, leaning back on his chair.

Hilary just shook her head, taking a seat between Kenny, who was intently working on his laptop and Tyson, who was grumbling for more food.

"Can I at least eat Mariam's dish, then? Y'know she's not coming back anyways." Tyson huffed.

"And why not?" Hilary asked, sounding slightly offended as she remembered her and Mariam's little feud earlier.

"Didn't you see Kai and her this morning?' Tyson asked, looking at the brunette, "It's _Kai_…of course she's not coming back."

Rei nodded. "That's true. But Kai's not _so_ bad…" he said, standing up for the Russian.

"Mariam's been with him basically all of the time." The Japanese blader said emphatically.

"Ooh, that _is_ bad," the neko-jin frowned, "also not very safe…"

Hilary rolled her chocolate eyes, "Yes, yes, we _know_."

Tyson and Rei exchanged looks, then looked at her.

"You're just jealous that Kai likes Mariam." Tyson said, grinning.

A fist landed on his head.

"_Itai!_" Tyson exclaimed, "what was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head and looking at Hilary.

Hilary smiled dominantly, "For being an idiot."

"Just because you don't like it, doesn't make it any less true." Tyson mumbled, in hopes that Hilary didn't hear that.

Rei smirked at Hilary; Tyson had her there. And Hilary was too stubborn to admit defeat.

Hilary folded her arms, "Whatever, Tyson."

Rei shook his head, then stood up. "I'm going outside. I need some fresh air."

Hilary immediately looked at Tyson.

"What? I didn't do anything!" the World Champion said in his defense.

Rei smirked, shaking his head at their childish antics.

* * *

The Chinese blader stored his hands in his pockets, standing on the steps of the dojo. He saw a figure moving towards him. 

He took a fighting stance.

The figure emerged, "Whoa, calm down, Rei… I'm not here to hurt you, you know that."

Rei looked at the figure. "Salima?"

The redheaded girl nodded shyly.

"Why're you here?" Rei demanded.

Salima held up her cell phone, then tossed it to Rei. "I got a message to meet… Mariam here."

Rei looked at the text message, then back at the dark-eyed girl. "Well, Mariam's not here right now. She left with Kai in the morning…Hilary says." He gave her back her phone, which she stored back in her pocket.

"Oh." Salima nodded, "Can I stay here until she comes back?"

Rei nodded in return, "Sure." He took a seat on the dojo steps. She followed his example.

"So…is Kai going out with Mariam now?" Salima asked curiously.

Rei looked at her gently, "Nope…at least not _yet_."

"I don't trust that voice…" Salima noted, smirking, "sounds like you're gonna set them up."

"Oh, so you can read minds now, Salima?" Rei asked, "Too much time with Team _Psychic_." He said, stressing 'psychic', hinting to the fact that she 'read his mind'.

Salima smirked, shaking her head at him. Rei smiled at her.

* * *

Max was almost there. Mariam didn't know what to do. Maybe...she could give Max a chance. He wouldn't hurt her...would he? Really, all she wanted was to finally feel safe. She didn't care who with, as long as she felt safe with someone...who wouldn't leave her alone again. Ozuma had seemed like the right person at the time, but Kai had to go and ruin that. 

But Max was about to kiss her! Déjà vu all over again… Like with Kai back at the alley thing… and Max stopped him. Would anyone stop Max?

"Max!"

Mariam blinked. That answered that question...

* * *

There! 13 pages and 3900+ words! Is it getting better now? 

Who called Salima, and who stopped Max from kissing Mariam? (Yeah, and the person who stopped Max _is not_ Kai...in case that was one of the first guesses)

Told ya that Maxie would be a big part in this chapter. And yes, I realize that they're getting worked up about nothing, but I had to do _something._

And there; you got some Max/Mariam in there. Kai's not gonna be too happy about that…

Salima/Rei is kinda cute now… reminds me of Sakura/Syaoran from CCS in a way.

Well, please review now!


	14. Friends

Disclaimer: I'm not owning Beyblade any time soon, so you shouldn't count on it…

Okay, well, according to this paper of what I was supposed to do;

Tala was the one who called Salima (I forgot why, but I'll figure it out soon...oh now I remember!) and the person who stopped Max...you'll find out soon...

* * *

But Max was about to kiss her! Déjà vu all over again… Like with Kai back at the alley thing… and Max stopped him. Would anyone stop Max?

"_Max!" _

Mariam blinked. That answered that question...

* * *

Max seemed to grumble in annoyance, and then moved his head away from the girl's, glaring up at the cause of disturbance. Still, he kept his arms in a possessive hold onto her. He was determined to just…get his way, and he wouldn't let whoever stop him. For a second, Mariam thought that Max looked…kinda mad. But he was the happy-go-lucky Max. He shouldn't be like this. She shouldn't even be like this. What was Kai going to think if he knew that Mariam allowed herself to be reduced like this? Overpowered by Max? He'd humiliate her for life… 

And then, why was she so worried about what Kai thought?

Mariam refused to look at the cause of disturbance; it was probably someone who Mariam trusted, because they would've known that Mariam didn't like-_like _Max, so they stopped him.

"I should've known this would happen…"

Her emerald orbs shot up. She would never forget that voice. Finally, after a few seconds of convincing, Mariam looked over at the disturbance, "Crap…" was all she could say at the moment.

And there he stood. His strong arms folded over his well-tones chest. His normally soft emerald eyes screaming out anger. His face harsh and cruel, just like when he bladed.

(A/N: That description should've made everything clear...but you probably scrolled down and read the name already...meh, no one guessed it anyways, and I've been talking about bringing him back in since last chapter...and I realized that in the last chapter, I could've made it obvious by changing one thing...)

Mariam sighed as she lowered her head, "Ozuma…" she murmured quietly. She knew this wouldn't be good. But the Saint Shields leader wasn't alone. To his left was the tall, brooding sandy-haired man, his arms also folded with a very pissed look on his face. And to the other side of the dual-hair colored leader was the olive-haired Joseph, but unlike the other two, Joseph had a sympathetic look, staring down as he has suddenly become interested in his shoes.

The first thing Mariam did was send a glare toward her brother, who glanced up for a second to catch her looking right at him. Mariam didn't know why she glared at their disturbance, since she didn't really like-like Max. Maybe it was because she knew Ozuma was furious with her since they hadn't spoken in so long. Joseph then looked at Ozuma nervously, who was glaring daggers at the blond American. Joseph bit his lip; Ozuma had forbidden Joseph from speaking to his sister when they left to come out here, "just because" was the reason Ozuma gave to Joseph when the boy asked why he couldn't talk to Mariam. The olive-haired boy shook his head furiously.

"Mar! Sorry I told Ozuma where you were, but he tortured it out of me!" Joseph screamed at her. Though they were a good few feet away from each other, Mariam heard it fine.

Ozuma turned his head, glaring down at Joseph, "I thought I told you _not to speak to her!_" his voice rose menacingly, and he struck Joseph with the back of his hand, making the boy fall over. Joseph managed a whimper and shuffled away a few. The leader scoffed again, once again folding his arms and glaring back at Max.

"Joseph!" Mariam made an attempt to get out of Max's grip again, to go over to Joseph, but Max still refused to loosen his grip, thinking that Ozuma might do something to her along the way. He wasn't going to take that chance.

For a moment, Mariam thought that Max and Ozuma had planned this out from the start; hurting Joseph and keeping her from him in order to get what they wanted from her, but the look that Ozuma was giving Max signified that the two _were_ on opposing sides. She knew that look anywhere…

After yet another long session of staring, Ozuma made a "humph" to himself, putting his arms back by his sides and closing his eyes gently. He made his way over to the pair.

"Mar!" Joseph got up in time, trying to race over, either to pull Ozuma back or protect Mariam. Either way, Dunga made a quick grab, snatching onto the back of the young boy's shirt, and then yanked him back to his side.

"Don't, Joseph… Trust me on this." Dunga advised, looking down at him. Dunga was also unsure of his choice of words, but he knew what happened when Ozuma lost his temper. The sandy-haired man looked back, seeing Ozuma going a few more feet toward the pair.

Joseph gave the 'gorilla' and a broken look, then stared back at Ozuma's departing form, heading toward Mariam and Max.

Once Ozuma got to them, he wrapped his hand around Max's wrist, putting enough pressure on it for him to let go. When Max knew he couldn't stand the pressure, he withdrew his hand quickly, shaking his hand fast enough to remove the pain, wincing. The second that happened, Ozuma went in the middle of them, pushing Mariam away from the blonde. To Max's surprise, instead of facing him, Ozuma was glaring at Mariam.

Mariam turned her head away from him, to her side, but still kept her eye contact, "What?" she asked, offended.

Ozuma was fuming, "What do you mean, 'what'? You know damn well what!"

Mariam remained silent. Maybe this was one of those times where Ozuma just needed to blow off some steam. Normally, Dunga was the perfect person to take out anger on. If it wasn't Dunga Ozuma chose, then Ozuma had a valid reason for doing so. The olive-eyed boy had his teeth gritted angrily, angry huffs just making their way out of his mouth and his face arranged in a hard sneer, waiting for her to respond. When she didn't, Ozuma continued.

"Forgot?" he said in a taunting voice while her emerald eyes avoided his until he placed a hand on her shoulder, "You _knew_ how much I hated Tate, Mariam, you just _knew it_!" he practically screamed in her face. Mariam still looked away, pretending that he wasn't there. He moved his hand down to her forearm and put as much pressure as he did on Max's arm, maybe more, "Remember now?"

Mariam seemed to be nodding, just to let him get what he wanted. He wasn't satisfied, "Mar!" he yelled again.

Her eyed narrowed; she couldn't hold it in any longer; she turned her head to face him again, "If you hated him so much, _why did you send me after him if you knew there was a chance of feelings happening_!" she yelled back, giving him a look of equal hatred. Ozuma's look softened only for a few seconds, like his grip on her arm, before firing up again.

"Well, who _else_ would you have rather gone after, then, _hmm_!" he spat, leaning angrily into her face, growling slightly.

"Does it matter? Would you have given me the choice anyways?" Mariam shot back. Despite Ozuma's grip on her arm, she threw both arms by her sides angrily. She also leaned in angrily,very similar to Tyson and Hilary, although they still kept their faces afair distance away from each other.

"I _would have_; you could have gone after Kai for all I cared, because at that time, _I would've done anything for you_!"

Mariam titled her head back. Realizing what he just said, Ozuma let go of her arm and took a few steps back, finding that Max was standing over near Dunga and Joseph. Mariam was trying to look in his eyes, while it was his turn to avoid.

"W-What?" Mariam asked, raising a brow at him.

Ozuma hid his blush by keeping his hard glare, "Well…not anything-_anything_. Oh c'mon, y'know what I mean, right?" Ozuma started, shoving his hands in his pockets. Why he had suddenly calmed down confused even him, but perhaps it was one of those splur-of-the-moment things.

Mariam just looked at him with a confused look still dawning her face, "Right…" she said uneasily, still not quite getting it, "Why do you hate Max so much?"

"It's a long story, but it doesn't matter…." He said firmly, not wanting to bring up that…story where he was spying on them from the tree and they thought he was a big squirrel, "Besides…" he shrugged. Mariam looked at him again, blinking inquiringly, "Joseph told me you liked Kai…"

Mariam stared, and then sent a hard glare at Joseph who hid behind Dunga, "You hate Kai too?" her voice was flooded in her own worry, concern and just a bit of shame, like she wasn't allowed to like someone if Ozuma didn't say so.

Ozuma shook his head, "Mar, we still may not be together, but that doesn't mean that I can't be around you or make you happy anymore." Mariam nodded at him, urging him to continue, "But I still get a say in who you can go out with."

"What are you, my father?" she folded her arms, lowering her head with a dark smirk on her face. This wasn't their nature, but perhaps it had something to do with their feud for a long while and suddenly making peace with each other again.

"I'm…not even gonna touch that…" Ozuma said flatly, "The point is that I trusted Kai… he felt like the first guy I actually _could_ trust, for some reason…" he mumbled something under his breath.

"There's a problem with that…" Mariam said. She seemed to be concerned with something, something that Ozuma didn't understand… something that would go wrong, "He hates me…"

* * *

"Okay…let's go over this again," Kai ordered his redheaded friend. He wasn't sure if 'friend' was the right word to call Tala, but it was close enough. Said redhead groaned, sliding a hand down his face in annoyance. 

"Ugh…" Tala complained, holding up the piece of paper that Kai handed to him only a few seconds ago, "You're pretty sad, y'know that?" he folded his arms, the paper residing in-between the index and middle fingers of his right hand. He really didn't understand how this was going to do anything for Kai, besides drive him crazy.

"Just do it!" Kai barked, his eyes flashing in his own anger, showing Tala that he wasn't fooling around.

Tala grumbled some curses in Russian under his breath, then sighed, "Okay, start from the beginning then."

Kai grunted with a nod of his head, then clasped his hands behind him and started pacing back and forth in front of the older Russian, "Okay…um 'Mariam, I'm really sorry for everything, and I'm sorry I hurt you. And even though were never really close, I think that I've…' Tala, line!" he stopped pacing, looking toward the older Russian.

The addressed boy jumped a bit, scrambling to get the paper into his viewing. Tala read over the paper quickly, finding where Kai stopped, "Um, after that you're supposed to say…" Tala put a pale finger to the paper, sliding it along the words, "Oh, 'I've begarn to develerp strang ferlings far yog'?" Tala guessed, struggling.

Kai huffed, and snatched the paper from his hands, "Moron…it says 'I've begun to develop strong feelings for you'!" he rolled the paper up and smacked Tala upside the head with it.

Tala rubbed the spot, glaring at Kai, "That's touching, but I don't swing that way, Kai." Tala replied with a sly smirk, just taunting the slate-haired boy for the fun of it. And Tala had to admit, it really was fun.

Kai gave him a very dull look, duller than his normal looks. And Tala imagined that his normal look couldn't get any duller…huh… Once Tala found that Kai really wasn't going to respond to that, he smirked, "Well, it's not my fault your penmanship looks like crap…"

Kai flipped the paper so that the writing was facing Tala, "It's written in _Russian_, idiot." He wanted so much to shove the paper into his face, but Kai thought of more ways to torment Tala later. Where was Bryan when you needed him? Ugh…

Tala squinted at the writing, "Oh…so it is…" he chuckled uneasily, "it still looks like crap, though." He looked back up at Kai, with a slight smirk hanging off his lips.

The slate haired boy groaned, shoving the paper back into Tala's hands, "Just…let's go over this again so I can get this over with…"

Tala eyed the paper, "Y'know, I find it pretty sad that you have to write out what you're going to say to her." Kai sent him a dry look, "I find it even sadder that you have to rehearse it over and over again…"

"Well maybe we wouldn't be rehearsing so much if _someone hadn't been complaining about the penmanship!_" Kai yelled angrily in the redhead's face. Tala narrowed his eyes dryly as his hair was being moved when Kai yelled.

Tala fixed his hair, "Fine, fine, but it's still _pretty_ sad."

"Shut up and follow along!" Kai retorted.

* * *

"Okay, let's stop for now…" Kai said after a while. When the slate-haired Russian got no response from the redhead, he glanced over, finding that he had fallen asleep. Tala was sitting his knees upright, and his back leaning against a nearby tree. Kai went over and kicked Tala in the ankle, "Hey, moron, we're taking a short break." Tala's expression shot up in sudden alert, and then seemed to lighten up when the slate-haired boy said that. Said boy bent down toward him, taking the paper from Tala's lap, "I just need to look over this…" 

Tala's expression dropped again, "Kai, we've been doing this all day…there's nothing you could've missed." He sighed drowsily, folding his arms at him.

"There has to be…I know there is. Let's do it again…" he tossed Tala the paper again, who didn't do a thing to it, just letting it drop in his lap. Kai went back to where he was pacing before.

"Ugh… 'Kai's Emotional Breakdown of Mariam' take three hundred and four…" the redhead sighed, grumbling, banging the back of his head on the wood of the tree. Kai ignored that, going over the lines yet again, "Y'know, you could just tell her that you're sorry and that you like her. No need for all this crap…" Tala's lavender eyes moved up and down the length of the paper and the amount of words printed (poorly, according to Tala) on it.

* * *

"Max!" Tyson shouted out, running toward the blond. He turned to see him, along with Hilary and Kenny, "We've been looking for you _everywhere_! Hilary wouldn't let me eat the food, even though she made the food with me, then Rei leaves, next thing we know, he's sitting outside with Salima, and now _you're_ here with….what happened to them?" Tyson asked, pointing to Mariam and Ozuma. 

Max shrugged, "You know them…one minute they're at each others throats, the next, they're nice to each other, then the next minute, they're back at each other's throats…" he explained with a shrug.

"Mar's just like that." Joseph told them, grumbling. Tyson and Hilary looked up at the pair.

"What's wrong with you!" the leader screamed in her face.

"What do you mean, what's wrong with me? What's wrong with you!" the lavender-haired girl retorted.

"You got kicked off the team, so what? Doesn't mean you should go patronizing with the enemy!"

"Me? If I remember correctly, who said 'go…go off with Kai now', huh!"

"That's different!"

"Oh, Mr. I-Can-Trust-Kai now contradicts what he just said about Kai, huh?"

"_Kai_, I can trust, because we…have this weird guy bond thing. _Max_, I don't wanna trust because…" he trailed off… "Look, a squirrel!"

"Ooh, where?" Hilary asked happily. That caught Mariam and Ozuma's attention. Hilary looked around; everyone was staring at her dully, "What?"

Tyson sighed, then leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Oh…" she smiled when he was done, "it's a _blader_ thing, isn't it?"

Everyone else exchanged looks, then stared back at her, "Yeah, sure…." They nodded.

Mariam and Ozuma continued their argument.

"Besides, I know Kai better than Max; I can trust him with you!"

"I never said you couldn't!"

Max just looked at them, then back at Tyson and Hilary, "Look familiar?"

"Huh?" Tyson cocked a brow.

"Whatdya mean, Max?" Hilary asked suspiciously.

"Never mind…" Max looked away.

"Hey, have you seen Kai?" Hilary asked randomly.

Tyson sent her an annoyed look, "If we did, wouldn't he be here right now?"

* * *

"Just one more time!" Kai demanded, trying to get the paper from Tala who was keeping it away from him, using his height to his advantage. Truthfully, the redhead had never seen the 'cold, heartless bastard of Beyblading' like this, trying to get a paper which was dangling just above his head, but Talaknew that navy-haired girl had a big part in it. 

"No, Kai! You've done this more than six hundred times now! Just go face her!" Tala yelled.

Kai growled, resisting the urge to say 'but I don't wanna!' like a whining child, just to tick Tala off.

"Look, the more you worry, the more chance you have of losing." Tala explained slowly as Kai stopped trying to get the paper. Kai just stared, "It even happens when you're blading."

"And for a second, I actually thought you were going to help me…" Kai said dryly.

"Well, you thought wrong," Tala retorted, "Now _come on!_" he went behind Kai and was practically shoving him over to where they last saw Mariam. Both Tala and Kai had the same reaction when they saw the rest of the group.

"_Uh…_" they said in unison, exchanging looks. Ozuma had Max's back pressed up against a hard tree, with his left hand on the blond's neck, the right hand arranged in a fist, just wanting to be slammed into Max's face. Then the rest was just weird. Mariam was behind Ozuma, pulling at his waist, for him to get off Max. Behind her were Joseph, then Dunga, Kenny, Hilary and lastly Tyson, each pulling on their former's waist. Ozuma still wasn't budging. Max had one eye closed, preparing for the inevitable punch to hit his face.

Tala shook his head, "I knew you guys were idiots, but this is just sad…" he said in shame, dipping his head with a smirk, "almost as sad as Kai going over this thing for Ma—" the slate-haired Russian shut him up by crumpling the paper from before and shoving it in the redhead's mouth, "Hmm?" he spat it out into his hand, then grumbled some things to Kai under his breath.

Kai shook his head, pressing past him, over to the group, "Ozuma." He said curtly.

Ozuma looked at him, then nodded a head, "Kai." He said in return. Kai gave him a curious look, trying to understand what Ozuma was doing to Max. Ozuma nodded, then quickly took Mariam's hands on his waist off him and pushed her toward Kai, "There ya go."

Mariam's head hit his chest, and she quickly turned back to Ozuma, "What the hell was that for!" she screeched at him. Ozuma gave her a nonchalant shrug. Joseph raced over, taking Mariam's place in pulling Ozuma off.

"Tala, wanna help?" Tyson strained. Tala sent him a dull look, to say that he wouldn't do such a thing. Tyson knew that look, so he nodded a head to the normally calm Kai and the fuming Mariam. Tala smirked, remembering all that he had to suffer because of Kai's need to rehearse what he had to say over and over. Tala decided it was time for payback.

"Yeah, whatever…" he went over to the rest of the group, proceeding to pull on Tyson's waist in a hopeless attempt to get Ozuma from punching Max senseless. Tyson was pondering over something for a while.

"Um…" he started, glancing around for an idea. The blue-haired boy sighed in his defeat, "Um, we… this might take a while, you two run off…" Tyson said, still unsure of what he just said.

Mariam and Kai blinked, as if in unison, "Why don't we just help you…?" Mariam offered flatly, raising a brow. Kai seemed to have the same idea, but he didn't show it much.

Tala grunted, "Oh no, we've got _everything_ covered here…" he insisted, glaring his hardest at Kai. Mariam glanced at Kai for a second, then turned on her heel quickly and stormed off. Kai let out an angry grunt, crossing his arms and followed her.

* * *

She was at the bridge again, since that's where Kai found her. She was staring down at her reflection. The second she saw a slate-hair colored reflection next to hers, she whipped around, finding the only person who would possess such a tint of hair. 

"Oh, it's you…" she huffed angrily, dipping her head quickly, making her hair bounce a bit. Her eyes narrowed heatedly at him, accompanied by a sneer of hatred, "What do _you_ want?"

Kai just stared at her softly, in some sorrow, but his face still kept his normal composure. For a while, Kai was wondering if he should actually say the lines he planned out for her, or just wing it as he felt fit. Kai seemed to dip his head in shame, of himself. He felt like such an idiot for liking someone who hated him with every fiber of her being. It was obvious she wouldn't feel the same way. And Kai asked himself if that would stop him any day, "I…" he began, so unsure of himself and of everything, "came to apologize…"

Mariam's hard glare rearranged into a shocked look. She certainly wasn't expecting that. She was expecting another taunt, another reason to mock her. She couldn't stand that again, "You…what?"

Kai let out a low chuckle at her expense, "And you make fun of Dunga for having poor hearing…" he chuckled again, yet in a more scoffing way than before, "I said that I came to apologize." His eyes wandered, staring at something behind her head so he wouldn't have to look her straight in the eyes.

Mariam couldn't believe it; he was…being _nice_. That wasn't good. He probably wanted something back for that… Kai and nice never made a good mix. At least she didn't think so, "Apologize for what?"

He shook his head in his disbelief, stepping closer to her; one step away from her, "For…" he pondered to himself, "for everything…" he nodded, knowing that he was saying the right thing, "For hurting you and for just everything." He sighed in relief, putting both hands on her shoulders and stared down at her.

Mariam studied his facial expression; he seemed to be hoping for something to happen. He was…kind of smiling, "All right, what do you want?" she asked, kind of freaked out, stepping back from him.

"N-Nothing…" he wondered if that was really the right thing to say to her. Well, he wanted her to…maybe feel the way he did about her, but he'd never tell her that. They were supposed to hate each other. They were on opposite teams, opposite sides of the game. Bladebreakers and Saint Shield-ers just don't mix together. Yet, he found Max wishing everyday that it just would. Was he supposed to go against Max? It would seem weird since Mariam didn't even know why Kai was doing such a thing. He kept all his feelings inside, so that no one would be able to figure him out, "Nothing at all, Mariam."

"Then why are you being so nice?" She raised a light violet brow at him, her face questioning his words and she put her right hand to her hip.

Kai shrugged, "Why aren't you?" he asked in return, avoiding her question with his own. He really wasn't ready for her to know about what he felt, because to him, it didn't seem right. Everything about it was wrong. She hated him, Voltaire would hate him, Boris, he didn't care about, Max would hate him, and it felt awkward for Kai to come on out with these feelings, just 'suddenly' falling for her. It didn't seem right at all.

"Well, you _are_ being nice…and you _are_ apologizing…" Mariam considered, bringing her left index finger to just left of her chin in thought, "All right, but just this once. Tell anyone and I'll beat you so badly there won't be enough left of you for Ozuma to beat up, either."

The dark crimson eyed boy tilted his head back. _Ozuma?_ He asked himself. What did Ozuma have to do with anything? Sure, they used to go out, but what did he have to do with now? _Now_ was the issue of Max and Kai in some weird war for Mariam, without her notice. No Ozuma. He uttered it out, "What does Ozuma have to do with anything…?" he asked calmly, in his normal unruffled voice.

Mariam just smiled, "I don't know, but he's taken on some kind of…older brother quality now." She shrugged, looking back at him, "Why?"

He shrugged back at her, "Just wondering…" Kai sighed in relief; he was in the clear. For now, at least. They were having a humane conversation that didn't involve mocking or anything of the sort. Things would be okay between them; he broke the ice. But she didn't rust him. All the trust he possibly had for him vanished when he told her of what he did. But better that than have her never knowing, and Kai keeping it locked away deep inside himself, and then bringing it up at an irrelevant moment.

"Hey Kai?" Mariam asked after a few seconds of silence between them. Kai nodded, to show that she had his attention, "Just so you know…I'll accept your apology." She smirked at him, "But don't think that that means we're anything but friends or something…"

Kai just stood there, thinking about what she had just said to him. His arms lowered emotionlessly by his sides. His crimson orbs stared down at her sadly, possibly sadder than that event with Wyatt. Kai couldn't stand it. He turned away from her and closed his eyes. He felt…quite depressed, compared to normal occasions he had. Something in his chest hurt him deeply, and Kai ignored it, telling himself that it was just nothing, or a poorly eaten breakfast that didn't quite make its way down. But Kai seemed certain to himself that it was just nothing, although it hurt him strongly. What was wrong with him? He dipped his head low enough for his bangs to prevent the light from falling on his eyes. He also felt something strong tighten in his stomach, making it feel quite uncomfortable.

"Kai?" Mariam asked toward his back, trying to see his face, but he didn't give her the chance, as he kept turning his head away whenever she tried to see his face, "Kai? I accepted your apology. No big deal, right?" she asked, trying to comfort him, although she didn't understand why.

Then Rei and Salima chose that exact time to come walking by them, "Hey Kai! Mariam!" Rei yelled out, waving a hand up. Mariam looked over, seeing the Chinese blader in his oriental clothes and Salima in her normal purple long-sleeved top with hergray skirt. Kai didn't budge.

Rei squinted, "What's wrong with Kai?" he asked partially to himself and partially to Salima. She shrugged as he ran over to his teammate. She followed, sighing to herself.

"Mariam!" Salima exclaimed with a smile. Mariam blinked at the redheaded girl, and then returned the smile. Said redhead looked at Kai, then back at Mariam, "I think we should talk away from them…" and so Salima lead Mariam away from the Russian and Chinese bladers.

Rei watched the two girls go, then looked at Kai, "What now, Kai?" he asked, getting in front of him, annoyed.

Kai didn't say anything, just shook his head. Rei let out an annoyed grunt, folding his arms, "This about Mariam again?"

Kai didn't move this time. Rei took that as a yes. Rei knew that Kai liked Mariam. He noticed ever since Mariam came and helped Kai in their practice battle against Tyson and Max.Rei saw how Kai stared at her, seemingly entranced, when he thought that no one was looking.Rei always knew how Kai would look away for a short while, and then seemed to give into an inducement and look at her again. Whenever Mariam looked back at him with a curious look, his eyes would widen slightly in shock, he would give the slightest blush, a small smile and look away. Rei didn't know what to call it anymore…

The brunet let out a sigh, "I knew it…" he said with no surprise in his voice, "Well, what happened this time?"

"Nothing…" Kai replied in a low tone, still not moving from his current position. Rei only noticed that Kai's tightly clenched fist loosen it's grip and fall emotionlessly.

Rei smiled a bit. _At least I got a word out of him…_ "Of course…" Rei said, in a sarcastically normal tone. Rei didn't buy that. Last time, Kai lashed out in rage, chasing Rei around because he brought up the Mariam thing. _This_, this right in front of him, it was new.

Kai finally opened his eyes, but he stared down at the ground before him. He honestly wished that he could feel like shit for liking someone who could never possibly like him. Kai had heard about getting hurt when you like someone, but he never felt it before. What was he thinking? He had no chance with Mariam. With anyone else, it would've been so simple, but it had to _Mariam_, didn't it? Hell, he knew he should feel like shit. Why did this have to be so complicated? He liked her, and he was just her friend. It took him so long just to reach the level of "friend" with her, and he knew it could take even longer to get even higher. Did it really matter if she liked him or not? He knew he liked her, and he knew she didn't like him. He knew he shouldn't feel bad because of it, but he couldn't help it.

It never bothered him until now…

* * *

Um…wow… 

Yeah, sorry for that but I had to rap it up 'cause I'm went out today, early, and we got back really late, but anyways… I know; it seems one-sided on Kai's account, but from the bridge scene onward, it was more of Kai's side (notice how Kai's paragraphs are bigger than Mariam's) and I was just in that mood. Okay, the bridge scene onward is like a total opposite of my Rei/Mariam fic, I just realized... Stupid me.


End file.
